A Very Voyager Christmas
by Eudana
Summary: Trying to boost the morale of a very depressed Voyager crew, Neelix plans an elaborate Christmas party.


A Very Voyager Christmas

Neelix stood in the Mess Hall galley at his stove, stirring a pot of boiling vegetables glumly. Turning the heating element down a bit, he lightly sprinkled some seasonings into the pot, and then covered the pot to let it simmer on the stove for a short while.

It was the Alpha lunch shift. This usually was Neelix's busiest time of the day, but the large room was practically empty. In fact he hadn't had any more than about half a dozen customers at any given time all day long. As Neelix took a brief visual survey of the big room, he just sighed. He could see that not one person was laughing or smiling. There weren't the usual cheerful sounds of soft chatter, or even any joking quips about his cooking skills. There was only a subdued and dull hum of occasional monotonous conversation. The mood in the Mess Hall, and through the whole ship, was decidedly a bit glum, morose even. Neelix knew that his services as Chief Morale officer were in great need, especially now more than ever before, but what Neelix really could use was a morale officer of his very own!

He stood there frowning slightly to see the rather unhappy faces of his fellow Voyager crewmembers. Neelix knew that he had to come up with something extra special to perk everyone back up again. Sitting down on his stool in the galley, he grabbed for a padd, and he began to go over the coming week's various menu selections. There were several new dessert recipes that he wanted to try to make. Among them were Bolian Souffle, and Andorian Bread Pudding. He thought perhaps that a few new menu items would liven everyone up just a bit. As he continued to plan his menu, Neelix then suddenly realized what day it was. Today was December 4th. There were less than three weeks to go until it was Christmas. How could he possibly have forgotten such a big and festive holiday as Christmas? Just then, a wonderful idea popped into his head. Neelix smiled to himself at the thought.

"Aha!" he exclaimed out loud to no one in particular as he smiled from ear to ear. Neelix knew just exactly what the crew needed to lift their very sagging spirits. He needed to see the captain about this big, and marvelous plan straight away. Neelix then quickly recruited a nearby crewman to tend to his boiling pot while he was away, and he dashed off to see the captain. Neelix had a plan! It was a fabulous plan, and he was quite certain that it would boost everyone's morale! He could hardly even wait to tell the captain just what plan he had in mind!

The captain's ready room door chimed.

"Come in," she called.

The doors parted, and Neelix entered the room excitedly, nearly tripping head over heels in all of his excitement. Janeway was sitting behind her desk, and studying a padd rather intently. She was a bit startled when a rather exuberant Neelix came bounding into the ready room. Looking up at the chipper Talaxian clad in his tall chef's hat and very colorful apron, Janeway just couldn't help but smile at him. He certainly looked very pleasant and jovial in his bright, colorful outfit. Then again, all of Neelix's outfits were vibrantly bright and colorful, as was his infectious and gregarious personality.

"Yes, Neelix? What can I do for you?" Janeway asked, taking a small sip of her steaming hot afternoon cup of hazelnut and chocolate creme coffee. It was a new, delicious coffee bean blend that she'd just recently discovered in the replicator files.

"Good afternoon, Captain!" he greeted her cheerfully with a smile. "Actually, I think there's something that I might do for you. Well, it's for the whole ship."

He paused for a moment.

The captain put her padd and her coffee cup down on the desk, suddenly very eager to hear what Neelix had to say. He was just positively glowing. Whatever it was had him in a practically ebulliant mood, and had her curiosity quite admittedly piqued.

"Oh? You have my full attention," she said, wondering just what this

"something" was.

Her Talaxian cook continued.

"I'd like your permission to plan a very special Christmas party for

the crew."

Janeway's eyebrows raised in interest.

"Is it Christmas time already?" she asked, glancing down at her monitor to check the stardate. Surely enough she saw they were four days into December already. Where had the time gone? She could have sworn they were still in the month of November.

"In three weeks," Neelix said, nodding. As he did, his poofy hat rapidly bobbed up and down on top of his golden-maned head.

"I guess that I've just been so busy these past few weeks," Janeway said with a tired sigh. "I hadn't even realized just how close it was getting to Christmas."

He nodded once more, causing his hat to bob up and down again. Janeway had to quickly hide a giggle behind a smile. She took a sip of coffee to try to conceal the fact that she found this so amusing.

"With all we've been through these past few weeks, I thought the crew could all use a bit of a diversion. Something to lift their spirits a bit," he said smiling, hopefully.

This was certainly very true. Their recent encounter with the Brenari had sure taken its toll on the crew's morale. The Brenari, although they were a very friendly people, literally cried all the time. They not once laughed or smiled, even a little...ever. In fact...they bawled quite incessantly.

At first, the Voyager crew had found their hosts' very unusual behavior a bit puzzling, and even somewhat comical. Janeway had had to stifle a laugh when the Brenari Chief Minister of Trade and Commerce had all of a sudden erupted in a paroxysm of sobbing in Voyager's conference room right in the middle of trade negotiations. Soon after this strange encounter, what had become a very odd and even somewhat of bit of a comical display had quickly evolved into something dangerously contagious to the ship's crew.

Had it not been for the fact that they were in terrible and desperate need of food and other essential supplies, they wouldn't have had to stay on Brenar for such a long time. However, when most of the Voyager's crew began erupting into random bouts of crying, some even during their duty shifts, Janeway feared that she would soon have a shipwide epidemic of acute depression on her hands. The Doctor, the only one on board the ship who had not been affected by the sudden outbreak of emotional instability, had been very close to innoculating the entire crew with high doses of anti depressants. When it had finally come to the point where no one could even get through their duty shift without sobbing uncontrollably, Janeway knew that it was time to move on. Even the stolid Tuvok, with all his various Vulcan meditation techniques and mind exercises couldn't quite combat the

shipwide malaise, and it had even been a constant struggle for him to maintain his own emotional stability without succumbing to the depressive state that gripped the rest of the crew. Just this morning, Lieutenant Torres had nearly introduced Joe Carey's face to a warp coil.

She knew that the crew all wanted to put this particular encounter with the Brenari out of their minds. What better way was there to do that than to have a Christmas party to get everyone's spirits up! Janeway knew that the ever prepared Neelix would see to that. He was renowned for throwing the most elaborate and memorable parties.

"Permission granted!" she said. "You have my authorization to use any of the ship's resources and personnel that you need."

Neelix couldn't help himself. He smiled from ear to ear, and excitedly clapped his hands together. He was positively ebulliant. Janeway just smiled at all his enthusiasm.

"Thank you, Captain! You just wait and see! It will be the very best Christmas party we've ever had!" he said excitedly. He was practically

jumping up and down now.

Janeway smiled again.

"I'm sure it will be," she said.

Neelix started for the door.

"Oh, Neelix," the captain called after him. "About the party. I just have one request. Well, it...it's kind of a bit silly actually."

He turned back towards her. Janeway felt herself blushing a bit. She couldn't believe that she was actually asking Neelix for something as silly as this. It seemed rather absurd, and even just a little bit childish.

"Yes, Captain?" he asked.

"Snow," she said, smiling broadly. "I've always liked snow. It reminds me of all the Christmases that I used to have back home in Indiana on Earth as a child. I miss it."

Now Neelix didn't have the faintest idea of what snow actually was. They never had had any snow at any of their past Christmas parties on board, but if his captain wanted a party with snow, then he'd just see to it that there was snow! Just as soon as he found out what snow was! Neelix knew Voyager's database would have lots of information about snow, and he made a quick mental note to himself to research the topic later.

"There'll be lots of snow, Captain," he exclaimed. "It will be a grand party!"

Janeway exchanged another smile with her Chief Morale Officer, and she nodded her dismissal of him. When Neelix had left the ready room, Kathryn leaned back in her desk chair, and she briefly allowed herself to daydream way back to her Christmases in Indiana as a child. As her mind wandered off to that faraway place, she could almost smell the pleasant scent of a freshly cut pine tree intermingled with the mouth watering aromas of freshly baked Christmas sugar cookies and peppermint candies. It was a pleasant memory, and she let that enticing visual linger with her like a good friend.

Neelix could barely even contain all of his sudden excitement as he left the captain's ready room. He just simply had to share this good news with the crew! He walked to the turbolift so he could be seen by everyone, and then made his exciting announcement.

"Attention, everyone," he announced.

Everyone there on the bridge momentarily stopped what they were presently doing at their workstations, and they gave their full, and undivided attention to Neelix.

"I'm very pleased to announce that Captain Janeway has just given me permission to plan a Christmas party for the crew. I will be announcing more details soon, but I hope that everyone will come. I'm also preparing a little surprise for dessert this afternoon that I think you'll enjoy!" he bubbled.

Several of the crew smiled at each other. Even Tuvok had a look of mild interest on his face at Neelix's excited announcement, about dessert that is. Of course he knew how illogical it was for him to anticipate the consumption of edibles, and so his apparent interest in this puzzled him. Kim and Paris grinned at each other from their bridge stations. Chakotay was very happy to see the crew looking so lively and upbeat again.

"Well, I'd better get back down to the Mess Hall and see to lunch!" Neelix said with a little smile as he clapped his hands twice, and rubbed his palms together in delight.

The first officer thought that he even saw Neelix give them all a quick little wink as he turned and disappeared into the turbolift. The bridge crew smiled at each other, and there was a hum of happy conversation amongst many of the crewmen who were manning the aft bridge stations. Chakotay could just literally feel the dark shroud of gloom and depression lifting up off of the entire ship. Neelix's

announcement about the party had already started boosting their morale. Neelix was certainly well known for his quite lavish parties. Everyone always really enjoyed themselves, and his elaborate celebrations were the top talk of the ship.

"Finally something to look forward to!" Tom Paris exclaimed from the helm.

"Lunch or the party?" Harry Kim asked, giving Tom a grin from his Ops station.

Paris chuckled a little at his friend. From the command chair, Chakotay laughed too. It was good to hear them all joking around and laughing again. There hadn't been any of that in quite awhile around here.

"Now there's a sound we haven't heard in quite awhile," Chakotay said as he savored the sounds of the crew's soft laughter as if he were enjoying a good and hearty meal.

"And it sure is good to hear it again, sir!" Harry Kim exclaimed. He was just all smiles from over at his Ops station.

"It sure is, Harry!" Chakotay agreed.

This party was just the sort of morale boost that the crew needed to have right now, and he knew it. Chakotay decided right then and there that he'd attend this little Christmas party. He was quite sure that a good number of the crew would be attending it as well.

A couple hours later, Chakotay was about to go on his lunch break. He left Tuvok in command on the bridge, and he rang the door chime to the captain's ready room. She bade him permission to enter, and the doors dutifully parted. Entering, Chakotay saw her casually lounging on her sofa by the window, a book in her lap.

She looked up.

"Commander," she greeted him.

"I was just on my way to lunch, Captain," he said, smiling. The dimple on his chin showed. "Can I interest you in joining me?"

"Thank you, Chakotay. I'd love to," she smiled as she put down her book. She stood up, stretching. "Your replicator or mine?"

"How about the Mess Hall?" he asked.

"Feeling adventurous today, are we, Chakotay?" Janeway asked, laughing.

"A bit," he grinned. "Shall we?"

"Why not," she mused.

With a kind smile, Chakotay allowed her to lead the way down the corridor to the turbolift that would take them to the Mess Hall down on deck two. Just as the two arrived, the turbolift doors parted, and a crewman exited the lift. The man nodded

a polite greeting to them before going on.

"Any idea what Neelix is serving for lunch today?" Janeway asked her first officer as the lift quietly hummed to their destination.

"He said it was a surprise," Chakotay said. A smile curled the edges of his mouth up showing the dimple on his chin again.

Janeway smiled and laughed slightly.

"Well, in that case I'll be sure and alert the Doctor," Janeway joked good-naturedly.

"Good idea," he said.

Chakotay grinned and chuckled. The lift stopped, and the two of them stepped out. They smelled lunch from out in the corridor even before they were close to the Mess Hall. It was the familiar aroma of Plankton Loaf and steamed Leek Root with sweet Kava sauce. Janeway's stomach let out a sudden hungry rumble, as if it too could smell the very tantalizing meal that it was about to consume. Chakotay's mouth just watered in eager anticipation. He had to try his best to resist the urge to lick his lips.

This was a particularly favorite meal with many of the crew, and thus, Neelix made it at least once a week due to such a highly popular demand for it. Originally he had added some leola root extract to the loaf recipe, but a very displeased and disgusted B'Elanna Torres had put a swift end to all of that with a very cleverly reprogrammed replicator that she had tweaked to spew pureed leola root out at him. Janeway just laughed softly as she still remembered the big mess it had left everywhere, and how it had taken days for the clean-up crews to steam clean glops

of leola root up out of the gray carpet. Neelix had apparently learned his lesson well, and since then the stinky leola root hadn't made any further surprise appearances. Well, at least it hadn't in the Plankton Loaf anyway! Everyone was sure glad of that! No matter how many exotic and pungent Talaxian spices Neelix added to it, the stuff still tasted like filthy mold!

Neelix cheerfully greeted the lunch crowd as they trickled into the Mess Hall a few at a time. He handed lunch trays to the captain and to Chakotay piled full of the delicious smelling food. Janeway inhaled the aroma deeply. The entire galley was permeated with myriad pleasant and hearty aromas.

"Captain, Commander, glad you could join us for lunch today!" Neelix smiled.

"We wouldn't miss it!" Janeway said.

"Smells delicious as always, Neelix!" Chakotay said, accepting his tray.

"Thank you, Commander," Neelix said. "Be sure to stay for dessert too. We're having ice cream sundaes, by special request of Ensign Kaplan. They're really quite delicious if I do say so myself!"

"That sounds wonderful, Neelix!" the captain said, taking her tray from him,

and following Chakotay over to an empty table in the corner of the room.

On the way they nodded a few friendly hello's to a handful of crewmembers who very happily acknowledged them. Sitting down at the table across from her first officer, Janeway unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap. Picking up her fork, she stabbed at a bite of her Plankton Loaf. The moment that the small morsel touched the tip of her tongue, a blend of enticing flavors filled her mouth. The meat was seasoned just right, and the savory mushrooms and small onions complimented the tender meat perfectly. She chewed each bite slowly to prolong the enjoyment of this meal, glad that she hadn't decided to use any of her monthly replicator rations for lunch today.

"Mmm!" she savored the delicious meat. She blushed a little when she realized that she'd said that just a little bit louder than she had intended to. Chakotay was in obvious agreement with her assessment of lunch as he scraped his tray virtually clean.

"I think that Neelix's Christmas party has already started boosting morale around here," Chakotay observed of the room as he took a small sip of his coffee, and wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin.

"Leave it to Neelix to cheer everyone up!" she agreed, smiling at him.

Their lunch finished, the two discussed some routine bridge business over hot coffee. Just a few minutes later, Neelix stopped by to collect their lunch trays.

"May I interest either of you in some dessert?" Neelix asked them.

"I think that would be lovely. Thank you, Neelix," the captain remarked. Chakotay didn't object. If dessert was even half as good as lunch had been, they were certainly in for quite a treat!

Moments later, Neelix returned to their table with two big ice cream sundaes, each covered with a heap of whipped cream, drizzled in hot chocolate sauce, and then topped off with a plump red cherry on top. The captain took a small spoonful of ice cream. It tasted just as delicious as it looked. Busying herself with the contents of her padd, Janeway was rattling off a laundry list of things they'd need to do during their upcoming maintenance overhaul. Chakotay just murmured

softly in a half response to her as he hungrily ate his ice cream.

"Commander, I'd like to switch over to a four shift rotation instead of three shifts during our maintenance overhaul. Will you arrange the duty assignments?" she asked him, reviewing her padd.

"Mmhmm..." he answered.

Suddenly there was a soft chorus of laughter from several tables nearby.

"Chakotay, are you paying att..."

The captain stopped in mid-sentence as she looked up only to see that her first officer now had a nose covered in whipped cream, and a grin plastered across his face. She rolled her eyes, and shook her head, trying her best not to giggle at the sight of him

"I'll see to it, Captain," Chakotay said in a serious voice, a small dab of whipped cream still poised on the tip of his nose.

"Yes, Commander. See that you do," she said, trying her best to be serious, but still not able to help herself at the sight of her first officer with his whipped cream tipped nose. He laughed again, wiping the cream off with his napkin.

Soon, the Wildmans arrived for lunch with Seven of Nine in tow. At young Naomi's invitation, Seven surprisingly had agreed, although a bit hesitantly, to sample this culinary concoction. Seven did actually enjoy most human foods, although Neelix's cooking had been quite a bit of a shock to her still very delicate human/Borg hybrid digestive system. Then again, Neelix's cooking had been shocking to everyone. Sickbay had thus seen quite a number of minor medical emergencies for

the first few weeks that Neelix had started cooking.

"Hi, Neelix!" Naomi greeted her godfather cheerfully as he spooned an extra thick slab of Plankton Loaf onto her tray. He knew that it was one of her favorite meals, and so he always gave her just a little bit extra. He smiled down at her, giving her a little wink.

"Well, if it isn't the official Captain's Assistant herself!" Neelix exclaimed.

"I have a very special dessert surprise today for my favorite goddaughter!"

"Cool!" Naomi said with a grin.

Samantha just smiled. Naomi was very obviously picking up on a few of Tom Paris's expressions. The lieutenant had already introduced her to cartoons on the television set in his quarters, and since then, Naomi just simply couldn't get enough of them. In fact, at least twice a week, Naomi slept overnight at Tom and B'Elanna's quarters just to watch television. She and Tom would replicate popcorn and camp out in the living area with their sleeping bags and pillows, and they would watch all sorts of old programs. Sometimes both she and B'Elanna would even join them for a night of fun if they weren't on duty.

All during lunch, Neelix bustled about the Mess Hall refilling empty coffee mugs, and friendly bantering with the crew about all of the latest ship's news and gossip. His earlier announcement about the Christmas party had apparently been making its way around most of the ship by now because he sensed that most of the lunch crowd seemed to be a bit happier in general. It was nice to see the crew looking so happy and upbeat again. After Neelix stowed the last of the lunch

leftovers away in the pantry, he sat at an empty table to plan the Christmas party.

There was so much to be done, and so little time. He would need decorations, food, music, and then of course there was the absolute most important thing of all, the Christmas tree! Neelix's mind began to swim with all the preparations he would need to make. His mind was just full of all sorts of ideas. Taking a deep breath, Neelix began to jot them all down onto his padd. He smiled to himself. This would be one Christmas party for the crew to remember! First thing in the morning, he would begin recruiting volunteers for all of the various party committees that he would need to put together. There were the decorations to be made, the food to prepare, music to select, and perhaps the most important thing of all was finding the absolute perfect Christmas tree. There was much to do!

Ensigns Jenny and Meghan Delaney and Lieutenant Susan Nicoletti were the very first crewmembers Neelix enlisted. They eagerly agreed to serve on the decorating committee. Susan had also agreed to play the piano for the party. Crewman Henley and Lieutenant Porter also had volunteered to be on the decorating committee. Neelix had decided that they would use mostly real decorations and not replicated ones for the party. This of course meant that they would be busy making them, but Neelix eagerly welcomed the work. He spent the better part of the day happily recruiting several more crewmembers to serve on all of the various holiday party committees. Plans for the party were shaping up quite nicely. Last year's party had been in the Mess Hall, but Neelix decided on utilizing the holodeck for this

year's Christmas party. He had several extra special things planned for this year.

It was just after 1900 hours. Tom and Harry arrived in the Mess Hall for a late dinner. Neelix had something brand new for dinner tonight. He hoped the crew would like it.

"Hi, Neelix," Tom greeted him cheerfully as he grabbed two trays, and handed one

to Harry who was standing behind him. "What's the dinner special tonight?"

"Yankee Pot Roast," Neelix answered. "Lieutenant Hargrove requested it."

"Sounds delicious," Kim said.

It looked and smelled delicious too! Of course Neelix had to locate suitable meat and vegetable substitutes from planets in the Delta Quadrant, but he usually managed to locate a selection of edible foodstuffs; aside from the ever-dreaded, stinky Leola root of course. Thanks to their most recent stop on Brenar, the ship's airponics bay was now producing quite a plentiful supply of many different fruits and vegetables.

Neelix began dishing some very generous portions of pot roast onto their trays.

"So, Neelix, are the party plans going?" Tom asked innocently, hoping to pry a detail or two out of the Talaxian chef.

"I'd say the plans are coming along just nicely!" Neelix exclaimed. "Any chance you fellows might like to lend a hand on one of the party planning committees?

We still have plenty work to be done."

"Sure!" Harry said. "Count me in."

"Me too!" Paris chimed in.

"Wonderful!" Neelix said. "Harry, you'd be absolutely perfect to be in charge of

all the party music if you're interested."

"Great!" Kim said, smiling.

"And Tom, you can help me plan out the party menu if you'd like to," Neelix said.

"Sure! I'd be happy to help out!" the pilot readily agreed. "I have a great family recipe for frosted gingerbread cookies. It's been in my family five generations. And there's also my own personal Christmastime favorite..."

"What's that?" Neelix asked.

"Holiday Pizza!" Tom smiled. "Pepperoni, tomatoes, green peppers...it's delicious!"

"That's my buddy Tom, getting all nostalgic on me," Kim joked good-naturedly with a friendly clap on Tom's shoulder. "Let's say we go and eat before our lunch gets cold!"

"Right behind you, Harry!" Tom said.

Tom and Harry sat down at their usual spot. Harry unfolded his napkin, and laid it in his lap. Picking up his fork, he stabbed a chunk of meat and ate it. It was surprisingly quite tender and the taste pleasantly delicious.

"Not bad," he remarked.

Tom took a bite too. He savored the small onions that gave just the right amount of flavor to the meat. It was very good indeed. He took another bite, and then nodded.

"This is good!" he said, swallowing.

Both of them scraped their food trays clean. A little burp escaped from Tom, and he just blushed a bit, but it was good. Neelix soon stopped by their table, and he refilled their empty coffee mugs. Tom dumped a little cream and sugar in his coffee, and stirred the steaming liquid, blowing on it slightly.

"Would you gentlemen care for some dessert?" Neelix asked them. "I've just made some freshly baked apple pie."

At the mention of apple pie, Tom's eyes widened in unabated delight.

"Sure!" Kim replied.

"I'm never one to pass up a piece of pie!" Tom added excitedly with anticipation.

Harry laughed at him good-naturedly.

"With or without vanilla ice cream?" Neelix asked.

"Oh, let's live dangerously!" Paris joked. "With! In fact, make mine a double scoop. I'm in a good mood tonight!"

"Make that two of them, Neelix!" Kim said.

He too was in a good mood. He was in the best mood that he had been in for weeks.

"Coming right up!" Neelix said smiling.

Neelix scampered off to the kitchen. Just a few moments later he returned with two plates. On each was a big slice of apple pie slathered with two big scoops of vanilla ice cream. It smelled absolutely wonderful.

"Here you are!" he said, setting the two plates down on the table for each of them.

Tom's and Harry's mouths watered in sheer anticipation of the delectable pie in front of them. In fact, Tom barely waited for Neelix to set his plate down before carving into his pie with his fork. As soon as the pilot took a bite, his taste buds were overwhelmed with the sweetness of the warm apple pie dessert. The tender apples were very sweet, and the crust was still warm and flaky. It tasted like it

had just come out of the oven. With his fork, Tom mixed a bit of warm apple with

a dab of melting ice cream, and he ate it.

As he finished up his pie and wiped a few crumbs from his chin, Tom couldn't help himself, and he burped again.

"Good pie, Neelix," Kim said.

"What kind of apples were those?" Tom asked the Talaxian. "They're very sweet."

"They're called Kalos," Neelix said. "I grew them from seed. Not quite the same as the Terran apples you're used to, but still quite edible. I made these pies with the last batch that I harvested from the airponics bay."

Tom made a face in agreement, and then moved his plate aside so that he and Harry could go over all of the latest additions to their Captain Proton holonovel program.

Soon, the last dinner rotation had left for the night, and Neelix had one last thing that he needed to do before turning in for the night. He had to select a suitable location for their Christmas party. Voyager's database was full of literally thousands of locations that could all be recreated on the holodeck. He wanted a place that was spacious enough to accomodate a large number of people, yet intimate enough to feel cozy and festive. After perusing many different Earth

locales, Neelix finally saw one that looked perfect to him. It was a very old place that existed on Earth for hundreds of years. It was called Thornewood Castle, located in Washington State in the North American continent. He recalled that Ensign Norwick who worked in Geophysics was from Washington State. He tagged the file, and then sent it to his personal console in his quarters. Tomorrow he would recreate it on the holodeck to get a better idea of what it looked like. He could hardly wait. He smiled in excitement.

By the next morning, the news about the Christmas party had spread throughout the entire ship faster than the Terrelian plague, and it was the topic of many conversations. Neelix hadn't seen the crew quite this happy in a very long time. There was a general uplifting of spirits among them, and they all seemed more upbeat and amiable lately.

After the early breakfast crowd had left to go on duty, Neelix decided to take a quick trip to the holodeck as it wouldn't be in use this early in the morning anyway. He took a quick peek inside his oven to see how lunch was coming along, and then set a bowl of mixed fruit out on the counter just in case anyone decided to come in looking for a snack while he was away. Neelix left the Mess Hall for the turbolift. Passing a few crewmen in the corridor, he nodded a very friendly

hello. They returned the gesture. Minutes later, he was outside the holodeck.

"Computer," he said, tapping the holodeck control console. "Create a new program. Display Earth, Washington State, United States of America in the year...1912. I'd like to see a place called Thornewood Castle."

The computer bleeped in compliance to his request, and the doors opened. As soon as Neelix walked in, he gasped in delight at the immaculately groomed grounds of the estate. Walking up the large front steps to the door, he grasped the knob in his hand, and opened the door to a vast parlor. He was greeted by an elegant, luxurious decor and polished wooden floors. He took a tour of the house, and

pronounced it to be quite satisfactory for their Christmas festivities.

This would be perfect! With just a few very minor modifications this house would be the ideal place to host the crew's Christmas party. He quickly saved the program, and then went to see Captain Janeway about a few little details regarding the party. She readily agreed to all his special plans, and he wanted to get to work on them straight away. There was so much to be done, and so little time. On his way back to the Mess Hall, his mind was abuzz with all of the preparations

that would need to be made.

Earlier, the captain had granted him the right to unrestricted access to holodeck

two, as well as a few extra dozen replicator rations. He had also been to see Tuvok to procure a locking device for the holodeck. Neelix was not about to take the risk of having any of the crew go snooping around to try and get a peek at the special program. He knew that a few of them, namely Tom Paris, would try their best to sneak a tiny peek at the surprise program. Of course everyone who had volunteered to be on the party decorating committee had been sworn to secrecy not to divulge any details to their fellow Voyager crewmembers.

The next afternoon after lunch had been served, Neelix was busy looking through Voyager's culinary database in search of several delicious Christmas recipes to try. He'd come across some, and he was busy taking notes on how to prepare them. He hoped the crew would enjoy a few familiar tastes of home. Just then, Naomi Wildman came into the kitchen. Mezoti was along.

"Hi, Neelix!" Naomi crowed happily as she skipped into the galley and then proceeded to help herself to his stash of sweet bars.

He knew they were her favorite, and he always kept some tucked away in a little cupboard just for her whenever she visited him. She handed one to Mezoti too. Her young Norcadian friend had also grown quite fond of the sweet, and grainy treats.

"Hi, girls. How was your science lesson with the Doctor today?" he asked them.

"It was really interesting. He showed us what Bolian intestines look like," Naomi told him as she chewed a bite of her sweet bar. Alien physiology had always fascinated her ever since she had been a little girl. She remembered sitting on her mother's bed and reading padds all about many different alien physiologies. It was very interesting to her.

"The Bolian digestive tract has a total of eight chambers," Mezoti casually noted.

"And they have transparent stomachs!" Naomi announced loudly.

"Oh my...that does sound very interesting," Neelix commented as he continued to read information from the padd in his hand as he surveyed some ingredients in his pantry.

From one of the tables nearby, Ensign Golwat, one of only two Bolians serving aboard Voyager, choked on a mouthful of coffee, and she nearly spat it out down the front of her uniform. Her light blue skin paled a light tinge of green in embarrassment, and she muttered a farewell to her two lunch companions, saying she was on duty soon.

"Oops," Naomi said, blushing a bit herself. "Sorry, Ensign Golwat," she apologized to the hastily departing blue-skinned ensign.

Naomi climbed up onto a stool beside her godfather, her sweet bar still in her hand.

"What are you reading?" she asked past a mouthful of her sweet bar, very curious.

"Oh, I'm just looking up a few old Earth Christmas recipes," Neelix told her.

Naomi's eyes practically lit up in sheer excitement at the mention of Christmas.

"Christmas! Is it Christmas time, Neelix?" Naomi asked him very excitedly. She was practically hopping up and down on her stool. Naomi absolutely loved Christmas.

Mezoti looked confused.

"What is Christmas?" she asked.

"It's a really fun holiday that we celebrate on Voyager," Naomi explained. "The crew exchanges gifts with each other, and there's a big decorated pine tree, and everyone gets a big stocking full of candy. It's everyone's most favorite holiday here on Voyager!"

Naomi still remembered last Christmas very vividly. Along with the Talaxian holiday of Prixin, it was her most favorite holiday.

Neelix smiled thoughtfully at the girls.

"How would you girls like to help me plan the Christmas party for the crew?" he asked.

"Can we really?" Naomi asked.

"Of course you can!" he replied. "You'll be my official number one party helpers!"

"It'll be lots of fun, Mezoti. You'll see," Naomi assured her young Norcadian friend.

"Seven of Nine says that having fun is irrelevant," Mezoti very stoicly replied.

"Oh, I think we might be able to change her mind about that this year," Neelix said.

Naomi smiled. She hoped so. She still could remember Seven's first Christmas on board Voyager. The ex-drone just would not get into the spirit of things, despite all efforts. Seven had spent two Christmases on board Voyager, and Naomi hoped that her third would be the best yet. She also just couldn't wait to share this special holiday with the Borg children, Mezoti especially. Mezoti was her best friend, and the two of them had become practically inseperable. Naomi was so happy to have other children on the ship to play with, even if Seven thought that playing was an inefficient use of time.

Ensign Samantha Wildman had just gotten off of her Engineering duty shift, and she was relaxing in her quarters with a mug of hot Ktarian spiced tea while reviewing a padd. Just then, Naomi came bounding into the room, and flopped down onto the couch next to her mother. Samantha just narrowly managed to save her tea from spilling.

"Well, there's my little bundle full of warp plasma energy!" Samantha joked, laughing.

"Hi, Mom! Guess what? Guess what?" Naomi announced very excitedly as she bounced up and down on the couch, and shook her mother in the process.

"What, sweetie?" Samantha asked as she reached for a pile of data padds that were teetering precariously on the edge of the couch, and about to fall onto the floor.

"Neelix and I are planning a Christmas party for the whole crew!" Naomi said.

"Really? That sounds like fun!" she said.

Samantha had already heard about the party from all the usual shipwide chatter, but she feigned ignorance in order to humor her young daughter. Naomi just loved parties.

"Yeah! Neelix said I could help him with everything! I can't wait for Christmas to come this year!" she chattered breathlessly.

Samantha laughed at her daughter lovingly. Naomi snuggled closer to her mother, and stretched her neck to view the padd that her mother was holding, curious what it was.

"What are you doing, Mom?" Naomi asked, repositioning herself on the couch amongst all of her mother's data padds so she could get a better glimpse of what she was doing.

Again, Samantha had to save about half a dozen of them from falling on the floor.

"I'm working on some engineering reports for Lieutenant Torres," her mother said as she tapped at a padd several times.

"Can I help?" Naomi asked.

Her mother thought for a moment.

"Can you put them in order by stardate?" her mother asked her.

"Sure! That's really easy!" Naomi said. "Seven taught me all about stardates!"

Samantha set the bin of completed reports down on the floor. Naomi began arranging the padds, very carefully looking at the stardate in the upper right corner of each padd before filing it in the right spot. Ten minutes later the job was done. Naomi got her game padd and sat on the couch beside her mother, quietly watching her work. She knew that these engineering reports were very important for the ship. Naomi tapped at her own padd intently, pretending that she was an important Starfleet officer who was writing an official report only for the captain's eyes. It was a top secret mission.

Samantha worked on her reports for a little while longer. She was just finishing up her last report when a loud yawn escaped her. She was apparently more tired than she had realized. Writing up these reports was very tedious and time consuming, but Samantha did enjoy helping Lieutenant Torres with them at the end of every month. Stretching stiff muscles, Samantha thought that taking a short break would do her some good.

"Well, kiddo...how about a break?" she asked, putting all of her padds aside.

"Kotis Kot?" Naomi asked.

"Sure. Go and get the board set up. I'll be there in just a minute," her mother said, as she wad putting all of her padds away.

Naomi sure didn't have to be asked twice. Running off to her room, she returned a few seconds later with the large Kotis Kot game board in tow. Samantha came to the table with another mug of tea for herself, and a small glass of warm milk for Naomi. Naomi chose the blue pieces as she always did, and her mother selected the red ones. The two of them were well into their second game an hour later. Contemplating her last move, Naomi leapfrogged her little blue circle token over her mother's last two remaining red ones, and then she excitedly threw her arms up in the air in unabated cheer.

"I won!" Naomi crowed happily.

Samantha laughed.

"You sure did!" she told her daughter.

"Can we play again?" Naomi asked.

"I wish I could, sweetie," Samantha said. "But Lieutenant Torres needs these reports done by tomorrow morning."

Mother and daughter packed the Kotis Kot game together. Finishing the last sips of her milk, Naomi deposited her cup back into the replicator, and then sat down next to her mom. Samantha was hard at work finishing the last of her reports. Once the last padd was put away, Naomi wriggled, shifting position, snuggling under her mom's arm.

"Tell me about Christmas on Earth again, Mom" Naomi asked. She had heard the stories before, but always enjoyed them.

Samantha just smiled down at her daughter. Draping a thick, warm blanket around them both, Samantha began to tell the stories.

"Christmas is such a beautiful holiday. I can remember when I was a little girl. My father would bring home a tree he had cut down from the forest, and my sisters and I would help to decorate it with my mother's most beautiful ornaments. My mother would be in the kitchen baking dozens of Christmas cookies. We would sing songs around the piano, and sneak a peek at our presents."

Naomi smiled. She liked to hear her mom tell stories of Earth like this, especially the Christmas stories. Naomi knew nothing of Earth aside from her mother's stories and the pictures she had seen in her mother's photo albums. Earth seemed like such a beautiful place, and Naomi could hardly wait to get there to see it all for herself.

"Mom, did you and Daddy have Christmas together?" Naomi asked her mother.

"We did, but Ktarians don't celebrate it quite the same way that humans do," she explained to her inquisitive daughter.

"I wish Daddy could come to our party," Naomi said somewhat sadly.

Samantha did too. She missed her husband terribly, especially around the holidays. She squeezed her daughter in a loving and warm embrace, kissing the top of her head lightly.

"I know, sweetie," Samantha said. "But we'll see Daddy again one day, and then we'll have a great big party! It will be like all of our birthdays plus Christmas too!"

Naomi smiled in her mother's very loving embrace. Her mom always knew just what to say to help her feel better. Just then the chronometer sitting on the desk bleeped a warning. It was 2100, Naomi's bedtime.

"Go on and get ready for bed, and I'll be in to tuck you in in a little bit," Samantha said.

"Okay," Naomi replied.

Samantha dispatched her daughter off to bed with a quick kiss on the top of her head. Naomi obediently padded off to her room, leaving her mother to finish organizing the last of her Engineering reports.

The next afternoon, the Mess Hall was very nearly deserted. Neelix was serving Leola Root Casserole again. Naomi and Samantha were two of only a very few on board who had actually acquired a taste for it. Seven of Nine had deemed it highly offensive, and many of the crew readily agreed with her.

"There's one of my little Christmas elves!" Neelix greeted Naomi happily as she came in with her mother. Naomi giggled at him.

Neelix spooned a big mushy glop of green saucy noodles onto each of their trays. The two of them carried their lunch over to their usual table where Lieutenant Joe Carey and Ensign Vorik were saving their spots for them. Samantha knew that Joe wasn't very fond of Neelix's Leola Root Casserole, so she guessed he must be out of his monthly replicator rations to be partaking of this particular repast. Vorik, being a Vulcan, didn't have much in the way of taste buds at all as did all Vulcans. He tolerated mostly all of the various concoctions that Neelix created. He even managed to stomach down Neelix's rather spicy version of Plomeek Soup. Tuvok on the other hand, detested the stuff. Neelix had added just one too many pungent spices to the bland, reddish soup for the Vulcan's own personal preference.

"Hi, Uncle Joe. Hi, Uncle Vorik," Naomi greeted them with her usual enthusiasm.

Naomi had grown up calling everyone on board Voyager "Aunt" and "Uncle". They had all become so accustomed to it, and most had even welcomed it. The child had in a way been adopted as a surrogate by the crew, many of whom had left children back home in the Alpha Quadrant. Having a child around on the ship seemed comforting.

"Hi there, Angel Face," Carey greeted her with a quick, tender caress to her cheek.

"Hi, Joe...Vorik," Samantha greeted them as she sat down at the table with Naomi. Her daughter sat in the seat beside Joe, which left the chair next to Vorik for her mother.

"So, are you getting excited for Christmas coming up soon, Naomi?" Joe asked her.

"I sure am!" Naomi said. "Neelix said that I could help him plan everything!"

"Well, I'd say that the party plans are in very good hands then!" Joe said, smiling.

"I would concur," Vorik agreed as he neatly twisted several green noodles around the tines of his fork, and then ate them with as much dignity as a Vulcan could eat noodles.

Just then, Samantha coughed a little, and put her napkin to her mouth. She then spat out a green root string in her napkin. Every once in awhile Neelix missed peeling off a stray string. She had just been "stringed" as Tom Paris would say. He'd come up with the term himself, and it had since stuck.

"Well, I guess Neelix missed that one," Samantha joked as she took a small sip of hot coffee to clear her throat a little bit.

Naomi giggled at her mother as she sucked up a long green noodle into her mouth. It left a small green sauce splotch on her chin.

"Uncle Vorik," Naomi asked. "Do Vulcans have Christmas and presents too like us?"

"Vulcans do not celebrate the giving and receiving of gifts in that way," Vorik said. "However, I have always had a fascination with several human cultural observations."

"You should come, Vorik," Carey said.

"Please, Uncle Vorik! Come to our party!" Naomi pleaded with hopeful eyes. "It will be so much fun. Will you come, Vorik?"

"I will give the matter my consideration," he responded, intending to do just that.

Midway through lunch, Neelix stopped by their table to refill their coffe mugs. He also brought Naomi another cup of grackel milk. She liked grackel milk because it was very sweet. She took two big gulps of it.

"So, Neelix, how are all the plans for the Christmas party coming along?" Carey asked. "Need any help with anything?"

"As a matter of fact, I still haven't formed a Christmas tree committee yet," he said as he refilled Samantha's coffee mug.

"I'd be happy to help," she said.

"Me too," Joe volunteered.

"Excellent!" Neelix said, smiling.

Samantha was glad for the extra work this would give her to do. It would help her not miss her husband and her family so much. Soon, Samantha had enlisted the help of Lieutenant Ayala, Ensign Genarro, along with Crewman Gerron, and of course Joe Carey. Samantha had asked Gerron to be part of the group because she wanted him to feel welcomed. The young Bajoran had surprisingly agreed to partake in all of the festivities, very curious about this human holiday that everyone seemed to be so very excited about. Whatever it was, it looked to be very enjoyable. The group of them met several times to plan all of the various tree decorations and ornaments they'd need.

They'd decided to make a few very special ornaments from scratch, and one afternoon they all gathered in her quarters to make them. Samantha had set up a long table and a few chairs in her living area, and she had replicated everything they would need. She had also replicated a variety of snacks for them to munch on if they got hungry later.

Joe was the first to arrive, and the others came shortly afterwards. She had made several sample ornaments from designs she'd found in Voyager's database, and those were laid out on the table. They all soon got straight to work, each of them busy creating their own unique ornament. Samantha was busy gluing some sparkles onto a styrofoam ball when suddenly she heard muffled giggles coming from the other end of the table. She looked down and she saw that Gerron had accidentally glued three of his fingers together. The tips of his ears were a tinge of red with embarrassment, but he was laughing right along with them. Try as he might to pull

his fingers apart, they were stuck together.

"Medical emergency! All hands to the emergency escape pods! Initiate the self-

destruct! Abandon ship! Fingers stuck together!" Joe Carey joked, laughing.

"A bit extreme, don't you think, Joe?" Samantha asked, laughing as well.

"You know, Gerron, you may have to stay that way for the rest of the trip home," Lieutenant Ayala joked, good-naturedly sharing a laugh at young Gerron's expense.

"You two certainly are a help!" Gerron said in mock exasperation, smiling as he flung an open glitter tube at Ayala. Silver glitter flew everywhere, raining down on Ayala's dark hair. Joe Carey laughed at him.

"Well, I suppose you'd better go to sickbay, and see what the Doctor can do for you," Samantha told him.

"Try not to glue anything to yourself while I'm gone," Gerron quipped to Ayala as he got up to leave. Ayala just laughed at him.

A quick visit down to sickbay made Gerron feel so much better, and he was much more careful with the glue. Ayala however soon made the unfortunate error of accidentally gluing a finger to the ornament he had just made. Realizing what he'd just done, Ayala looked very embarrassed with himself.

"Well, now I've done it," he lamented in jest as he tried shaking the ornament off of his finger. All that his effort accomplished was to fling tiny specks of green glitter.

"Lieutenant, I'm afraid that we'll have to amputate that," Gerron piped up. "Where's my laser scalpel? Someone quick gag him and hold him down! This won't be pretty!"

They all had a hearty laugh at poor Ayala's expense before dispatching him to sickbay as well. He returned just a few minutes later with a bottle of solvent just in case anyone else decided they'd like to glue themselves to anything. The group decided that they would make a special ormament for each crewmember, inscribed with their name. That way at the end of the Christmas party each person could take their ornament with them as a keepsake to remember the party.

Meanwhile, Neelix had put both Naomi and Mezoti in charge of creating and giving out all of the invitations to the party. With over a hundred invitations to make and deliver, the two girls would be very busy for awhile.

One afternoon, the two got together in the Wildmans' quarters to start making them. After replicating some colored paper, glue, glitter of various colors, and crayons, they got to work. Naomi and Mezoti were still working when Samantha got home from her shift in the science lab. She could hear loud laughter coming from Naomi's bedroom. She came in only to find Naomi and Mezoti engaged in an all-out paper war. Sheets of colored paper were just flying everywhere. More pieces were

scattered across the floor. An assortment of crayons, glue sticks, and glitter tubes were strewn across the floor. Seven of Nine just stood there looking a tad dismayed at the disorder they were making.

"Mezoti, you will cease this disorderly behavior immediately," Seven of Nine admonished her young charge sternly.

Samantha had to suppress a little giggle at Seven's overreaction to the situation. It was a tad bit disorderly, but was hardly chaotic.

"What are you girls making there?" the ensign asked, smiling a bit as she came around the corner. Both girls jumped.

"Uh...nothing!" Naomi said innocently as she hurriedly shoved a pile of paper under her bed, and then pretended not to notice. Mezoti stifled a little giggle as a wayward red crayon slowly rolled towards Seven's foot. The ex-drone raised a disapproving eyebrow at the slowly approaching crayon.

"We were coloring," Mezoti said.

"Just clean up the paper and crayons when you're done," Samantha told them both as she walked back out into the living room.

"We will," Naomi promised.

"Mezoti, your designated recreation time has already elapsed. It is time for you to regenerate now," Seven informed her.

"But Seven, I don't want to regenerate right now. I want to color!" Mezoti protested.

Samantha had to laugh a little as she was overhearing this conversation. She came back into Naomi's room just in time to see Mezoti looking up at Seven with a rather pronounced pout. It was the very same pout that Naomi used when she didn't want to go to bed. Mezoti was obviously learning from Naomi well, much to Seven's

consternation. Again Samantha had to smile. The former drone woman had not yet entirely grasped the concept of fun. Mezoti was still giving Seven her very best pouty, pleading look, and Naomi was now doing the same thing.

Samantha sensed an intervention necessary.

"She is welcome to stay for dinner, Seven," Samantha said. "I'll send her down to the cargo bay after we finish eating dessert."

"Please, Seven," Naomi pleaded.

"Please, Seven," Mezoti echoed.

"Very well," Seven finally agreed. She then turned back to Samantha. "Please initiate the necessary disciplinary protocols if she misbehaves or causes any further disorder."

Samantha had to keep from laughing.

"I'm sure she won't be a problem, Seven," Samantha said, giving a worried Mezoti a little wink.

Seven then turned and left, leaving Mezoti in the Wildmans' quarters. Samantha left the girls to tidy up in Naomi's room, and wash up for dinner. The girls were done cleaning and washing themselves up in no time at all.

"Would you girls please set the table?" she asked them as she stood at the replicator, tapping a few commands into the panel.

"Yes, Mom," Naomi said as she opened a cupboard and started handing plates and cups to Mezoti who in turn set them on the table. Naomi then counted out three sets of silverware which Mezoti set by each plate.

Naomi and Mezoti had the table all set by the time Samantha came to the table with their dinner. They were having spaghetti and meatballs tonight. All during the meal, Naomi chattered to Mezoti about how much fun the Christmas party was going to be.

"We can make our lists for Santa after we eat," Naomi told her young friend.

"What is Santa?" Mezoti asked.

"He's a really friendly old man who makes toys and other things for people all year long. Then the night before Christmas he packs it all up into this magic sack that can hold it all. He puts it on his sleigh and then rides all over to deliver the presents. He has eight magical reindeers that can fly faster even than warp nine! Then on Christmas morning when you wake up, all of the gifts are under the tree waiting to be opened up!"

Mezoti gave this some thought.

"I don't know what to ask Santa for," she said, looking just a bit sad.

"You can ask him for whatever you want," Samantha said. "Anything that you like."

"Do you make a list for Santa too?" Mezoti asked Ensign Wildman.

"I sure do!" Samantha replied.

As she finished eating her dinner, Mezoti began to wonder just what she would ask this Santa to bring her for Christmas.

The following afternoon during the Borg children's normal recreation hour, Mezoti's bicycle sat in the corner of cargo bay two unridden. The young Norcadian girl sat on the stoop of her alcoveintently writing on a padd. Azan and Rebi were perched atop some storage containers a few feet away, and were just finishing a Kotis Kot game. The boys were very curious to know what Mezoti could be doing there so intently.

"I'm making my list for Santa," she told them. Azan and Rebi just looked at one another with very puzzled expressions.

"Santa?" Azan asked.

"What is Santa?" Rebi inquired.

Mezoti proceeded to explain the concept of Santa Claus just as Naomi had explained it to her. Icheb frowned at the very irrelevant conversation that the children were having.

"This is not a productive use of recreational time," he chastised his three younger half-Borg counterparts. "I will make a report of your collective disorder

for Seven of Nine."

Icheb's warning however, fell on deaf ears. Mezoti's tale of gifts, decorated trees, and stockings full of candy already had the two boys very captivated and quite intrigued.

"I like presents," Rebi said.

"Me too," Azan agreed.

"You should make a list for Santa too," Mezoti told her two older step-brothers.

"Seven will not be pleased with your disobedience," Icheb warned the three.

Mezoti's story had already captivated the two boys however, and had them thinking about making their own lists for Santa in spite of how irrelevant Seven and Icheb might think it is for them to do such a thing.

It was now four days until Christmas. Most everyone was really looking forward to the party. Even those crewmembers on board Voyager who didn't celebrate the holiday were included in all of the festivities, but of course Captain Janeway had not made any of their attendances at the Christmas party mandatory. She wanted everyone to feel that they were welcome to attend or not.

Neelix and the decorating committee were all still very busily preparing the holodeck for the party. Everyone else was given very strict instructions from Neelix not to enter, as he wanted this party to be a big surprise. Everyone's excitement and anticipation was at peak levels, and it seemed like every conversation made mention of the party.

Tom Paris, ever the naughty little holiday snoop artist, had even tried to access the program for a sneak peek, but Neelix had very wisely encrypted the program with one of Tuvok's best security codes, and he had even further enhanced that with one of Seven's Borg encryption security codes. Still, Neelix had a quick sense of humor, as he'd programmed the computer to play a pre-recorded Christmas song sung by him every time someone had tried to access the program without inputting all of the proper security codes. After three times of hearing Neelix sing "Jingle Bells" - loudly and off-key - Tom Paris finally gave up snooping.

In order to try and deter further attempts at snooping, Neelix had the computer play his pre-recorded song over the ship's intercom each time that the program was accessed without the proper codes. This morning it had played four times all within a twenty minute span. Each time that it had played, Janeway could hear muffled laughter from several of the crewmembers on the bridge.

"Someone has their hand in the cookie jar again," Commander Chakotay laughed.

"I swear it wasn't me this time!" Paris said innocently from the helm. Kim chuckled.

"Shall I alert security, Captain?" Tuvok asked, prompting a chorus of laughter.

"My inquiry was not meant to be amusing," Tuvok said, a bit perplexed.

They all laughed again, unable to help themselves. Tuvk just raised an eyebrow, and turned back to his security console, admittedly curious as to why the crew found his inquiry to apparently be so amusing.

As things were relatively quiet on the bridge otherwise, Janeway decided to retire to her ready room for a little while. Grabbing her favorite novel, she stretched out on her sofa. Some hours later, she was still lost in the pages of her book. Janeway glanced at her chronometer, and saw that her duty shift was nearly over. Harry had the next watch on the bridge. She briefly checked on her comm console,

and noted that she received a few Christmas wish lists from the crew. As she suspected, Tom Paris's list was one of the first. She just had to chuckle at some of the things on his list. Among some of the more unusual items that he'd asked for was a complete set of the Captain Proton action figures along with toy rocket ship and jet pack. She could just imagine the sight of him in his quarters playing with them all.

This evening she would take a trip down to the ship's storerooms, and begin to replicate everyone's presents. The challenge would be in finding a place on the ship to hide all of them until they could be wrapped and transported to the holodeck. She finally had decided on using science lab four. It was one of the rarely used places on Voyager which could easily accomodate the presents, and could be locked to ensure no peeking.

Making her customary rounds of the ship just after lunchtime, the captain stopped in Astrometrics. Seven was at her usual spot. Seven paused, and glanced behind her for a moment, then she returned to her task of recallibrating Voyager's upper sensor array.

"Captain," Seven acknowledged her. "Do you require my assistance?"

"Just passing by," Janeway said, casually leaning against the console, studying the readouts on the display in front of her. She saw that Seven was conducting scans of a narby stellar cluster they'd soon be passing. "I thought I would pay you a visit."

"I am presently unable to accept currency in exchange for your presence here, Captain," Seven said to her quite matter-of-factly.

For a moment, the captain thought she was serious, but then the slight hint of a smile on Seven's face gave her away.

"The Doctor has encouraged me to explore what he calls my witty sense of humor," Seven explained to her amused captain.

"I see," Janeway said, laughing. "That was very good, Seven."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Find anything interesting out there?"

"A protostar nebula three light years away. Its core has a particularly high quantity of thoron particles," Seven remarked as she brought the image up on the viewscreen.

Janeway knew that Seven had always had a particular fascination and interest in these protostar nebulas. Stellar cartography would certainly jump at the opportunity to study this very rare cosmic phenomenon as well.

"Sounds like it might be worth a look after our Christmas party," Janeway told Seven. "Speaking of the party, will you and the children be joining us for the festivities?"

"We look forward to attending," Seven said.

"Glad to hear it!" Janeway said. "Well, I'll leave you to your scans. Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Captain," Seven bade her farewell, and continued running her scans.

It was near the end of the day, and Janeway checked her desk console a last time before dinner. Seventeen new lists had been logged onto her console since earlier that morning. Samantha's and Naomi's lists were in this latest bunch, as well as Joe Carey's list, and B'Elanna Torres's list. Downloading all of the lists to her padd, Janeway left her ready room, and made her way to the turbolift. As she waited for the lift, she overheard Tom talking covertly with Harry over at Ops.

"Come on, Harry! Just a little tiny peek! We won't get caught. Please," Tom begged him.

"Tom, I'm not going to help you snoop into Neelix's Christmas party program. You'll just have to wait like everyone else will."

"That's right, Tom!" Janeway admonished her sandy-haired helmsman with a smile. "Besides...naughty boys who peek don't get any presents from Santa on Christmas day!"

"Uhh..." Paris stammered.

He lowered his head, the tips of his ears turning a slight shade of pink. He grinned sheepishly as several crewmembers giggled.

"I'm going off duty, Harry. The bridge is yours for night watch," Janeway said.

"Yes, Captain," he said with a nod as he relinquished his station to the relief Ops officer, and made his way to the command chair. Tom Paris, having given up on his snooping mission, left for his quarters.

After some dinner in her quarters, Janeway downloaded the latest batch of lists onto a padd, and then took a trip to deck five to the storeroom. After she had replicated tape, and a scissors, and several rolls of assorted wrapping paper, she sat down and began to wrap each gift one at a time. About an hour later, Chakotay came in with a thermos of coffee and two mugs. He set them down.

"I though you might like some coffee," he said, pouring her a cup of the hot liquid, and then the other one for himself. "Neelix just brewed a fresh pot a few minutes ago."

"Thank you, Chakotay," she said, taking the mug from him gratefully with a smile.

The moment that she swallowed, the warm liquid perked her up. She must have been a little bit more tired than she had realized.

"What time is it?" she asked, yawning.

"Nearly 0130," Chakotay told her as he was studying the big mound of brightly wrapped gifts that was nearly half as tall as he was.

The stacks of unwrapped gifts had dwindled by a considerable amount, but there were still several dozen more left to wrap. She was very glad that she'd finished wrapping all of his gifts before he'd arrived there.

"Can I help?" he asked.

"Pull up a chair!" she invited, taping a red bow to a package, and writing on the label.

Chakotay smiled, picking up a chair and sitting across from the captain. As she set the wrapped package aside and reached for yet another, she smiled thoughtfully. This activity was missing something important.

"Computer," she requested. "Access the musical database. Christmas holiday music. Play file Janeway beta two-three nine."

The computer bleeped in compliance, and a few moments later, a festive selection of Christmas tunes filled the science lab. The first officer smiled as he pressed a green bow on the box that he had just wrapped.

"I think it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here. Wouldn't you

say, Kathryn?" he asked her, smiling.

She smiled back.

"It's good to see the crew so happy again."

"It certainly is," he said.

The two continued to work a few minutes longer. Chakotay surveyed the growing pile of gifts with amazement and a small grin.

"I don't suppose any of my presents are in there somewhere?" he asked the captain.

"It's possible," she said, smiling.

"I'll do my best not to peek," he grinned.

With Chakotay's help, the huge task of wrapping all of the crew's presents passed by quickly. The two enjoyed conversation and coffee as they worked together. Their job finally done, the two surveyed the neat pile of presents stacked high in the corner. Depositing their empty coffee mugs back into the replicator, they walked to the door.

"That's a job done," Chakotay smiled.

"It certainly is!" Janeway smiled back.

"Well, good night, Captain," Chakotay said.

"Good night," she bade him warmly.

They each turned, and then departed for their quarters. It was a good night's work.

The next morning, Neelix paid a surpise visit to the bridge. In his left hand he was holding what looked like a top hat.

"Step right up ladies and gentlemen, and take part in the Secret Santa game! Pick a name out of the hat! Don't be shy now!" he said cheerfully as he wove his way through the line of crewmen at the aft stations, and encouraged each of them to draw a name from his hat. Neelix came to Harry next.

Harry looked to the captain for her nod of approval before fishing a name out of the hat. Neelix approached Chakotay next and he held the hat out for the Commander. Chakotay then picked one very carefully.

"What kind of Christmas tradition is this, Neelix?" she asked as she too drew a name.

"It's called Secret Santa. Each person draws a random name out of the hat, and whose ever name you pick, you give that person a gift on Christmas Eve," Neelix explained.

"Sounds like fun," Chakotay said smiling.

"Now remember, everyone. The name you pick is a secret, so don't tell anyone whose name you have!" Neelix reminded them "And be sure to bring your Secret Santa gift to the party with you for our gift exchange."

After ensuring that his hat was passed to everyone who wished to take part, Neelix bade them a farewell, and boarded the lift.

That afternoon, the Borg children were all engaged in their usual recreational activities of choice while Seven was on duty in the Astrmetrics lab. Mezoti was just finishing a Kotis Kot game against Azan as Rebi sat watching. Icheb was busy at a console. He was at work trying to improve the efficiency of their regeneration cycles. At that moment Seven entered the cargo bay.

"It is time for you to regenerate now," Seven told the three younger children.

They all complied. Before stepping into her own alcove, Mezoti handed a data padd to Seven. She regarded Mezoti curiously.

"What is this?" Seven asked.

"My list for Santa," Mezoti said. "Will you deliver it to the captain for me?"

The other children paused, curious of what Seven's response would be. Seven raised an eyebrow, but she took the padd anyway.

"I will see that the captain receives it," she assured the young Norcadian with a nod.

Mezoti smiled at Seven happily and then she obediently hopped up into her alcove.

"Can we make a list for Santa too, Seven?" Azan asked with a pleading look. Rebi mirrored his brother's expression.

"Tomorrow you may," Seven told the two boys. "It is time for you to regenerate."

The twins obediently stepped into their alcoves. Seven briefly regarded the three children. Her usually very serious face softened to almost a hint of a small smile.

"Pleasant dreams," she said.

With that, the children closed their eyes.

Icheb was very confused, and gave Seven a perplexed look as she was busily working on a padd at one of the cargo bay consoles.

"Seven, why do you encourage the children to believe that there is such an individual designated as Santa Claus who will bring them irrelevant items?" Icheb asked her.

Seven of Nine knew that Icheb was old enough to know the truth, and so she tried explaining to him the importance of this holiday to the crew, and why she wanted the children to experience it. Icheb seemed to understand her, and he had even agreed to participate. However, he was still quite convinced that this party would be a very frivolous waste of the ship's resources.

The next morning before Icheb left to begin his usual duties in the Astrometrics lab, he was handed a blank padd by Seven of Nine. He took it, regarding it with a curious look.

"It is for your wish list for Santa," Seven told him. "I have made one as well."

Icheb nodded.

"I will give the subject matter some further thought," he promised her.

With that, Icheb left.

It was the end of Samantha's duty shift. She had just finished dinner in her quarters, and dropped Naomi off at Tom and B'Elanna's. She was on her way to deck six. A couple hours earlier, Neelix had asked the entire Christmas tree committee to report to the holodeck at the end of their duty shift. He'd advised them to come dressed up warmly. Luckily Samantha still had a few winter clothes left in

storage from that ski program Tom had created last year. She was wearing a pair of snow boots, warm wool pants, and a thick parka. A pair of gloves and a knit hat were in her pocket. She felt just a little bit ridiculous walking the ship's corridors in her winter get-up, and received a few very curious stares from passing crewmembers.

As the turbolift doors opened, there stood Tom and Harry. Tom moved aside to make some room for her. They both gave her winter outfit a momentary curious glance.

"Hi, Tom, Harry," she greeted them.

"Hi, Sam," they replied nearly in unison.

"Nice outfit!" Tom smiled.

"Oh...thanks! I'm on my way down to the holodeck," she told him. "Neelix asked everyone on the Christmas tree committee to report there after their duty shift. I have no idea what he has planned for us. All he said was to come dressed warmly."

"Neelix sure is going all out this year with planning this whole party!" Tom observed.

"I'm sure it'll be one of the best Christmas parties we've ever had!" Harry added.

"I have a feeling it will be!" she said.

The turbolift door opened at deck six, and Samantha bade them both a good night.

"Have fun!" Tom said.

"Thanks," she smiled.

The other members of the Christmas tree committee arrived only moments after she did. They were all dressed up similarly in winter clothes, hats, gloves and scarves.

"You have any ideas of what we're doing here?" Genarro asked Carey as he pulled a thick wool hat over his head.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Carey answered, shrugging his shoulders as he put on a pair of gloves and adjusted his hat.

"Snowball fight?" Ayala guessed as he wrapped a blue scarf around his neck.

Samantha laughed.

"Snow...ball? What's a snow ball?" Gerron asked, a little confused. Being a Bajoran, he had never even seen snow. In fact, he'd had to borrow some winter clothes from Ayala to wear for this particular excursion.

Samantha was just about to explain to him what snow was when Neelix arrived. He too was dressed up in winter gear. He gave the group a once over, and adjusted his hat.

"Everyone present and accounted for?" he asked, doing a quick headcount.

"Yes, sir!" Joe said.

Neelix then activated the holo-program. The doors opened, and they followed him in. They found themselves standing just on the outskirts of a snowy forest. It was mid- afternoon. The sun was just peeking out from behind a cloud. A gentle, cool breeze was blowing, and a light snow falling. Their footfalls crunched the white, powdery snow beneath their feet. Gerron stepped gingerly in the snow. He bent down and scooped up some of the white substance in his glove. Samantha just had to smile at him. Gerron reminded her of Naomi, and the first time that she had seen snow. Gerron carefully tasted the snow. He packed it into a ball, and rolled it around in his hands for a bit.

"That is snow," Samantha explained to him. "On some planets like Earth, when it is cold enough in the air, raindrops sometimes can turn to tiny frozen particles of ice, and this is what makes snow." Gerron understood.

He had never seen anything like this. He smiled widely as he began to form a pretty good sized snowball in his hands. The rest of them stood a short distance away just admiring the scenery. Samantha and Joe were standing there talking with Ayala when suddenly Ayala jumped. Samantha and Joe just laughed as they realized that Gerron had just nailed Ayala square in the back with a snowball. Ayala turned to see Gerron laughing and pointing at him. The others were all stifling laughter now too.

"Okay...now you're really going to get it, Gerron," Ayala laughed. "I'll get you."

He scooped up a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and then with a grin he took aim at Gerron who was still laughing. Joe then rolled up a snowball of his own, and set his sights on Samantha. Seeing the sly look on his face, she knew exactly what Joe was planning. Laughing, she took off running to seek cover behind a tree. Unfortunately she got pelted before she even got close to it.

"Oh, Joe!" she laughed.

"Oh...my goodness," Neelix said as he just stood there observing the chaos around him. He then unfortunately found himself caught right in the middle of a rather heated snow-ball fight between Ayala and Carey. Both Samantha and Gerron laughed

as Neelix's head fell prey to two snowballs lobbed by Ayala and Carey that they'd intended for each other. Taking advantage of the timely distraction, Genarro flung his own snowball at Gerron who mockingly fell over in very exaggerated throes of death. Greg and Joe just laughed at one another, punching each other in the arm playfully. Following this impromptu snowball fight, they collapsed in the snow laughing heartily at each other.

"That was fun!" Samantha said.

"Yeah, it was!" Joe laughed.

"Well, everyone," Neelix said, standing up and brushing some snow off of himself. "I think we had better get started before dark."

Neelix gathered them all at the edge of the forest near a wooden shed to give further instructions on their afternoon excursion.

"Our mission for this afternoon is to locate the perfect Christmas tree for our party," he said. "And we will succeed in our mission!"

Carey gave him a mock salute.

"Yes, sir!" he said. "We aim to serve!"

"Lead the way on, Officer Neelix!" Ensign Genarro said light-heartedly as he and the others quickly gathered up saws and ropes from a pile of supplies they found in the shed. They piled everything up into a cart, and set off into the forest, eagerly following Neelix in search of the perfect holiday tree.

"Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Into the woods we go!" sung Carey. He whistled a catchy tune as they trudged through the forest path.

"In search of a tree we go! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!" Samantha whistled. The others all just laughed.

"Oh, that song is stuck in my head now," Genarro groaned and laughed as they all trudged steadily on through the snow.

The group continued on for a little ways, and then stopped at a clearing to rest. As she took in the sights around her, Samantha spotted a doe and fawn not too far off. She tugged on Joe's jacket sleeve, and pointed the two deer out to him. He saw them too.

"Oh, look!" she exclaimed softly. "Do you see them? Aren't they just beautiful?"

The group quietly stood there watching the doe and fawn grazing on a patch of grass. The fawn was young, and still a bit wobbly on its legs, prompting a bit of laughter from the group as they watched the baby hobble around its mother. After watching the deer for a few minutes more, they moved on. A short while later, Neelix stopped them, and pointed up at a tall tree a short ways away.

"There!" he said. "That's the one!"

It was a tall and sturdy looking pine tree about twelve feet tall. Its long branches were thick and lush. The group marveled at its beauty. It was certainly quite a tree!

"Wow!" Carey exclaimed as he craned his neck to look up at the majestic tree that was nearly twice as tall as he was at six feet.

"I think it's perfect!" Samantha said.

The rest of the group readily voiced their agreement, and they quickly set off to work chopping it down. After a few minutes of very careful sawing, the tree slowly began to lean to one side. All it took was a gentle push, and then the tree came to rest on the ground with a small thud. A small plume of snow billowed where the tree had fallen.

"Timber!" Ayala yelled as he collapsed to the ground, mimicking the tree jokingly.

They all laughed at him, and then carefully hoisted the tree up onto the cart. They tied it down with lengths of rope, and then began the task of slowly wheeling

it back to the house where they would set it up in the hall.

"Wide load coming through!" Carey joked as they all heaved and pushed the tree. The group laughed at his contagious humor.

"Make way for wide load!" Samantha said.

"Nothing like the fresh scent of pine up your nose!" Ayala remarked, wrinkling up his nose as it was tickled by a fir branch.

"Or a branch sticking in your ear!" Ensign Genarro groaned and then laughed.

Everyone just giggled. It was a good twenty minute trek through the snow back up to the house. Every so often they would all hear a muffled sneeze coming from Genarro, and they'd all laugh. By the time they got to the house, Genarro was sneezing and itching up a storm, and everyone was covered in pine needles and sticky sap. They all laughed at one another, and certainly were a sight. In fact, Joe had so much sap in his hair that it was sticking straight up all over the

place.

"That's quite a new hairstyle you have there, Joe-Joe!" Samantha joked as she laughed.

"Oh, you like it?" he asked sarcastically. "Yes, I call this style my sappy look!"

Try as he might, Joe could not flatten his hair. They all laughed at him. They would definitely be needing sonic showers tonight.

"I think I'm definitely allergic to this tree," Genarro laughed as he kept sneezing and wildly scratching at all of his itchy spots.

Neelix understandably excused him early as the rest of them carried the tree into the hall, and set it in the metal tree stand in front of the window. Their work done, they all stood back to admire the tall and beautiful tree.

"I hope there isn't a squirrel in this thing," Joe joked, laughing at the thought.

"Wouldn't that really liven up the party!" Samantha giggled as she brushed some pine needles off of her pants.

"Well, I think that about does it," Neelix said. "Now we just have to decorate it."

That would be a task for another day. They all went to their quarters to clean up, eager for the work of decorating the tree later.

Naomi was spending the night over at Tom and B'Elanna's this evening, so Samantha had the place to herself. Placing her sticky, sappy clothes into the recycler, she stepped into the sonic shower. The gentle, low hum of the soothing sonic rays relaxed her. Soon she was feeling much cleaner and refreshed. Stepping from the shower, she donned her nightgown. Replicating herself some hot tea, she curled up

in her warm bed with her favorite book of Ktarian poetry, and read until she fell asleep about an hour later.

The next morning on her way to the science lab, Samantha ran into Tom and Harry in the turbolift again. They were on their way to the bridge for the start of their duty shift.

"How was the holodeck adventure? Tom asked, prodding her for the juicy details.

"Oh it was an adventure alright!" she said, smiling. "We picked out a tree for the party. We unfortunately found out a bit too late that Genarro is a bit allergic to pine trees!"

"Poor guy!" Kim said.

"Luckily the Doctor gave him a hypospray," she said. "I think he'll be fine...as long as he stays away from the tree during the party!"

They all laughed.

"Naomi must really be looking forward to the Christmas party," Tom said. "It was all that she could talk about last night!"

"Yes. She's very excited," Samantha said. "She doesn't remember much of last year's party, so I'm sure she's looking forward to this one now that she's a bit older. I have to admit that I'm excited too. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year."

"Mine too!" Paris said.

"I think after what we've all been through lately, everyone will be looking forward to the party...as long as Neelix doesn't make anything with leola root in it!" Kim added.

All three laughed again.

"Oh Harry, it's not that bad once you get used to it," Samantha said with a smile.

Just then the lift stopped at deck four.

"Well, this is my stop!" she said, exiting into the corridor. "See you both later!"

Paris and Kim each bade her a farewell.

That afternoon, after her lessons with the Doctor, Naomi continued to deliver the rest of the Christmas party invitations. She was so excited that she hardly even noticed the soreness in her feet from having walked all over the whole ship for the past four hours.

Her next destination: The Bridge.

The turbolift doors opened, and then Naomi slowly stepped out onto the bridge. Neither Chakotay or the captain were in their usual chairs on the bridge. Ensign Kim was at the Ops station, and Lieutenant Ayala was at the tactical station, standing in for Tuvok. He looked over at her. They all knew that the captain allowed Naomi to come to the bridge all by herself now, unless the ship was at red alert. Naomi was always very careful not to touch any of the consoles unless she had been given permission to.

"May I help you, Naomi?" Ayala asked.

"Hi, Lieutenant Ayala," Naomi said as she looked up into his dark brown eyes. They reminded her of the chocolate drops that Neelix had made for her on a few occasions. "I was just coming to give the captain her invitation to the Christmas party."

She was very careful not to call him "Lala" as she had when she was younger. She had not quite been able to pronounce his last name, and so it had unintentionally become "Lala". The crew had found this to be quite amusing. Much to Ayala's embarrassment, the "Lala" nickname stuck for a few weeks.

Of course that was all mostly due to Tom Paris's influence. If that wasn't bad enough, according to her mother, Naomi had also accidentally spit up on him when she was a baby. He had apparently been a good sport about it, but it still embarrassed her a little.

Ayala smiled a little, thinking that it would be alright to let her see the captain with this special delivery. He stepped from behind the tactical console, and he escorted her the short distance to the captain's ready room.

"Right this way," he indicated.

Naomi already knew the way to the ready room, but followed Ayala anyway. As she walked past the helm, Naomi smiled at the young female ensign who was temporarily at the post while Paris was on his break. The ready room's door chime sounded and Janeway put her book down on her desk, and straightened up her uniform just a bit before greeting her unexpected visitor.

"Come in," she called.

The doors parted to reveal Lieutenant Ayala standing with his hands clasped behind him.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" she asked.

He stepped forward a bit.

"Please pardon the interruption, Captain," he said. "There is a young member of the crew here who wishes to see you."

The captain raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and peeked slightly to the left. In turn, the young face of Naomi Wildman very timidly peeked out from behind Ayala's right arm. Janeway smiled kindly at the little girl.

"Show her in," the captain said.

He nodded and then stepped aside, allowing Naomi to proceed. Just as Ayala was about to take his leave, Naomi turned and looked up at him. He was tall, and a bit imposing, but Naomi knew that he was a gentle man.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she smiled.

Ayala nodded kindly and smiled before he left. As soon as the doors closed, Janeway invited Naomi to come around to the other side of the great big desk. She greeted the young half-Ktarian with sincere enthusiasm.

"Naomi, how's my official assistant today?" the captain asked her with a warm smile.

"I'm very well. Thank you, Captain," she replied, using her best grown-up manners. "I came to deliver your invitation to the Christmas party."

Naomi then handed the captain a big hand-decorated envelope. The captain took it and opened it carefully. Inside was a beautifully made card decorated with crayon sketchings and bright red and green sparkling glitter.

"How lovely! Did you make this yourself?" Janeway asked a beaming Naomi.

"Mezoti helped a little," Naomi told her, blushing a bit as some bits of green glitter came off onto the captain's fingers.

"Thank you, Naomi. I'm really looking forward to our little Christmas party!" Janeway said with another smile.

"We decided that it wil be a big Christmas Eve slumber party on the holodeck," Naomi informed her. "Neelix is going to cook all of the food, have desserts and everything!"

Janeway smiled. She remembered having many slumber parties as a child. She and her friends would always sleep up in the attic, and tell each other scary ghost stories until the wee hours of the morning.

"Well, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun," Janeway said, setting the card upright on her desk next to a stack of data padds and her novel. A few stray specks of glitter snowed down onto the dark surface of the captain's desk, reminding Naomi of bright stars in a pitch black night sky.

"I know it will be," Naomi said. "Neelix has been working so hard on it!"

Janeway smiled.

"I'm sure he has been!" she replied.

Just then the comm system activated.

"Tuvok to Captain Janeway."

"Go ahead, Tuvok," she answered.

"The weekly security report is ready for your review at your convenience, Captain."

"I'm on my way," the captain answered.

Janeway walked the short distance over to the door with Naomi in tow. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder approvingly.

"Naomi, would you please tell Neelix that I'd like to see him when he has a moment?"

Naomi smiled.

"Yes, Captain," she said as she left.

Janeway knew that she could just as easily contact Neelix over the comm system, but she wanted to give young Naomi the task of delivering the message all by herself. Naomi was after all Voyager's official Captain's Assistant. Technically of course no such job existed, but it did give Naomi something to do, and it made her feel very important, so Janeway and the crew had all played along with it. Naomi was in fact a very quick and capable learner and exceptionally smart.

"Lieutenant, you have the bridge. I'll be down in the security office if I'm needed," Janeway informed Lieutenant Ayala.

"Yes, Captain," Ayala nodded from tactical. He gave a little wink and a smile to Naomi.

After the captain had left, Naomi handed out the rest of the bridge crew's invitations, and then proudly surveyed her completed task. She was quite proud of herself.

"As you were," she told them with a smile and a nod before boarding the turbolift.

The bridge crew giggled softly after the lift doors closed. Naomi sure took her role as the Captain's Assistant very seriously. Next, Naomi was headed for Engineering. There was one last invitation she had to deliver.

The double doors parted, admitting her into Engineering. Usually Naomi wasn't allowed in here unless she was with her mother or Seven, but she figured that a quick visit just to deliver her last invitation would be okay. B'Elanna's crew was right in the middle of running a very crucial engine diagnostic. Several crewmembers bustled about, each carrying a padd or some other equipment. Naomi was being extra careful not to get in the way. She saw Vorik and went to him.

"Hi, Uncle Vorik," she said cheerfully as she peeked over the top of his console.

"Good afternoon, Naomi," he greeted her as he continued working at his station, looking down at the padd in his hand occasionally. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I have Lieutenant Torres's invitation to the Christmas party. I just came by to give it to her," the girl said, holding up an envelope.

Vorik paused briefly to look up towards the upper level where Torres and Carey were at work trying to realign a power conduit. He could hear Torres issuing orders to several nearby crewmen. Vorik knew better than to interrupt such a critical task. Their engine efficiency report was due to the captain for her review first thing tomorrow morning.

He looked back at Naomi.

"Lieutenant Torres is currently occupied with her duties. However, if you wish you may leave the invitation with me, and I will deliver it at a later time today," he told her.

"Okay," Naomi said, setting the glitter and crayon-decorated envelope on his console. "Make sure that you remind her to RSVP to Commander Chakotay by the 23rd,"

"I'll deliver the message personally," Vorik assured her as he continued with his work.

Naomi turned to go, but then stopped, and she looked back over to the young Vulcan.

"Are you coming too, Uncle Vorik?"

"I look forward to attending," he said.

She smiled happily at him before leaving to allow him to resume his work. Vorik had already RSVP'ed to his own invitation, and he had to admit that he was curious about this human holiday tradition that practically the entire crew seemed to be anticipating so much. He had in fact overheard Lieutenant Carey excitedly talking about it with a few of the other engineers during the night shift.

When Vorik had casually inquired about it, Carey had spent nearly a full hour regaling him with a plethora of stories all about all of his Christmases as a young boy on Earth.

The young Vulcan was intrigued.

After a late lunch, Naomi stopped by the cargo bay to see Seven and the children. Seven of Nine was working at a console.

"Hi, Seven."

"Hi, Naomi Wildman," Seven regarded her, very briefly pausing from her work.

Naomi noticed that the three younger Borg children were all in their assigned alcoves.

"Are they sleeping?" Naomi asked.

"Regenerating, yes," Seven replied. "The children still require frequent regeneration cycles until they have fully adjusted to not having their neural implants."

"Oh. Are you all coming to the party too?" Naomi asked as she watched Seven work.

"We will be in attendance," Seven said.

"This party will be so much fun!" Naomi said with excited anticipation.

"I am certain it will be enjoyable," the ex-Borg drone woman regarded Naomi with a friendly glance as she worked her console.

For a brief moment, Naomi thought she saw just a tiny hint of a smile on Seven's face. Naomi stood quietly watching Seven work for a little while longer until she was called to come home for dinner by her mother.

"Well, I suppose I should go home now," Naomi said, moving towards the door. She looked back at Seven briefly and waved goodbye. "Bye, Seven! See you later!"

"Goodbye, Naomi Wildman," Seven said.

Having bid Seven farewell, Naomi left the cargo bay to return to her own quarters. The ship's corridors were now largely empty as most of the night crew were on their duty shifts, so Naomi skipped all the way home.

A little later, the children's regeneration cycles were just complete, and Icheb had returned from his duty shift in Astrometrics. Seven summoned the four of them to her.

"We will be participating in the Christmas party festivities," Seven said. "Preparations must be now made for our participation."

Mezoti smiled.

"What must we do to prepare for this social event?" Icheb asked Seven of Nine.

Seven handed them each a padd.

"These padds contain information regarding this cultural observance which you will find useful. Please study them," she instructed.

The four began reading them earnestly.

The next morning, Tom had to stop by in Engineering to give B'Elanna his weekly helm report. He frequently used these visits to flirt with her, much to her amusement. Today was of course no exception to that.

"So," Paris said as he handed her his padd, and casually leaned on her console. "You certainly were quite a busy little bee in our quarters last night. What were you doing?"

He grinned. She laughed.

He knew exactly what she had been doing - wrapping his Christmas presents. After she had left to go on duty, he'd gone searching all through their quarters for where she had hidden them, but he couldn't find them. He had finally given up looking after two days.

"Couldn't find them, could you, fly boy," she teased him playfully as she worked.

Tom just laughed softly, lowering his head, his cheeks blushing a light pink.

"I figured as much," she joked.

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying," Paris shrugged. "I'd better get back to the bridge. See you later tonight, BLT!"

B'Elanna rolled her eyes and laughed. She hated the nickname BLT, given to her by an old Academy classmate. Only Paris could use the nickname without suffering injury. He could be so childish at times. At first it annoyed her, but gradually it became one of the things that endeared him most to her.

Later that afternoon, just after Seven and the Borg children had consumed their usual nutritional supplement shakes, they headed to sickbay. They were cheerfully greeted by the Doctor as soon as they entered.

"Good afternoon, Seven...children!" he said. "Please come in! I've been expecting you!"

Seven of Nine led the way, followed next by Icheb, and the children. The Doctor went over to the medical cabinets, picked up a hypospray, and filled it with a small vial.

"This hypospray will allow you to forego your normal regeneration cycle tomorrow evening, and will also temporarily regulate your sleeping patterns," the Doctor said.

He administered the hypospray to each of them, beginning with Seven. She already was capable of regulating her sleep patterns, but she received the hypospray anyway to be an example to the children. Each of the children then received their own injection starting with Icheb. Mezoti was the last.

"There we are!" the Doctor said to them with a kind smile. "That didn't hurt a bit!"

"Thank you, Doctor," Seven replied.

She turned to Icheb and the children.

"We will return to the cargo bay," she told them. "We have additional preparations to make before the party tomorrow evening."

"See you there!" the Doctor said.

Seven nodded, and led the way out with the four in tow. The Doctor smiled again, and turned to look at his sleeping bag and his pillow propped behind his desk. They were both holographic as he was of course, but that wasn't going to stop him from being at the crew's party. He wasn't going to miss it for anything short of a major catastrophe! He tossed his hypospray up in the air, and with a smile, he caught it as it came back.

Back in the cargo bay, Seven was in the process of replicating four sleeping bags, one for Icheb and each of the children. Her own sleeping bag was stowed in a storage bin in the cargo bay. She tapped the panel on the industrial replicator control console a few times, programming all of the specifications into the ship's computer.

"Computer, four sleeping bags, standard size," Seven ordered, tapping the console.

"Please specify color desired."

Seven looked at them for an answer.

"Explain," Azan requested.

"What is a sleeping bag?" Rebi asked.

"That activity is unfamiliar," Mezoti said.

"What is the purpose of sleeping in a bag?" Icheb asked, looking very confused.

Seven just raised an eyebrow and sighed. Clearly she had to explain the concept of a slumber party to them. It was Naomi who had first introduced her to this recreational activity months earlier before Icheb and the children had come to live aboard Voyager. Seven had actually come to regard them as a somewhat enjoyable social activity, even if they were just a tad bit impractical. Seven did her best to explain the purpose and the logic of this human custom just as Naomi

had explained it to her. Although the Borg children still seemed perplexed as to why anyone would sleep in a bag, they agreed to take part. Soon, the children each had their own sleeping bag and pillow replicated.

"You will need to have proper sleeping attire," Seven told them. "Computer, display replicator file Beta-Two-Five."

The computer bleeped in response.

"You may select your desired sleeping attire from these requisition files," she told them.

Soon, they each had a pair of pajamas they had chosen. Icheb's pajamas were dark blue with a thick white stripe going down the left shoulder. Mezoti's were a lighter blue with a reindeer print. Azan's and Rebi's were an alternating green and red candy cane print. Before regenerating in their alcoves that evening, Icheb, Azan, and Rebi presented Seven with their lists for Santa. Seven of Nine assured them that she would pass their lists along to the captain that night before she regenerated. As she'd promised, Seven sent their Christmas lists off to the captain before she retired to her own alcove.

Christmas Eve day was finally here!

The crew's duty roster had been specially rearranged by Commander Chakotay so that those crewmembers who weren't celebrating would cover the duty shifts for those who were going to be at the Christmas party.

The First Officer had been quite pleasantly surprised at the large number of non-human crewmembers who had RSVP'ed to the party, including Vorik. Even Ensign Golwat had RSVP'ed. It was Chakotay's job to take a headcount of all who were attending, and let Neelix know how many to expect at the party. Chakotay had received the last few confirmations the night before, and sent the final headcount to Neelix before bed.

At final count, 112 of the 155 people on the ship were attending. There was a palpable sense of joy and anticipation all over the ship, and everyone was in an exceptionally good mood - especially the captain. She had put out a memo to all crewmembers that the duty dress code would be relaxed for today, and the crew could report for duty in casual holiday attire. Janeway had opted for a nice Christmas-themed pantsuit. It was casual, but still had just the right business-like feel.

Janeway had also ordered that the ship's non-essential systems would be shut down prior to the party to allow the remaining crew an easier time of monitoring the ship. Only the sensors, weapons, helm, and the comm systems would remain online. The captain had received the last batch of lists from the crew the night before. She smiled to see that Seven had submitted each of the children's lists as well as her own. Every person on board was really getting into the Christmas spirit,

this year especially. It so pleased her to see the crew look so happy.

"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted the bridge crew as she arrived on the bridge for the morning duty call. "Merry Christmas!"

A cheerful chorus of "Good Morning's" and "Merry Christmas'es" greeted her in turn.

Samantha woke up especially early. In order to attend the Christmas party later, she had to report to the science lab at 0630 for her duty shift. She'd have to work until 1630. After getting herself ready, she looked in on Naomi who was fast asleep in her bed, and all cuddled up with her Flotter doll. Neelix would be by their quarters later on for her while Samantha had to work. There was a very big day ahead of them, not to mention the party that they'd all be having tonight!

Samantha grabbed a large platter of frosted sugar cookies that she was bringing to share with her staff, and then left her quarters. On her way to the science lab, she passed a few crewmen who had their arms all loaded up with a variety of Christmas decorations.

"Coming through!" the crewman at the head of the line called out as he led his group.

The few people in the corridor moved to the side to allow them to pass throgh. Samantha struck up a friendly chat with the crewman at the rear of the line. It was Lee Parsons. He worked the night shift in Engineering. He was carrying a box piled full of assorted Christmas décor. His box was jingling.

"Merry Christmas, Lee," she greeted him.

"Merry Christmas," he responded.

"You headed for the holodeck?" she asked.

"No, Neelix just had these decorations sent up from storage," Parsons said. "He's using these in the Mess Hall."

"I'm sure looking forward to the party this evening!" she said. "Will I see you there?"

"Definitely!" he nodded.

"Great!" she said. "See you then!"

"Will do," he replied.

She turned the corner and headed for the turbolift as she heard him break into a slow jog to catch up with the others down the hall. The bells in his box jingled as he ran.

Part of Samantha wished she'd volunteered to be a part of the set-up committee, but she had instead agreed to report for duty. With nearly a fourth of the crew helping Neelix set up for the party, they'd be just a little bit short-handed today. She entered the science lab, and was greeted by the smiles and kind faces of her staff. No doubt that they were all anticipating her Christmas cookies. She always brought in little treats to share with them during Christmas. Samantha set the cookies down on a table near the door, and she took the foil off of the very full plate.

"Everyone please feel free to come and help yourselves to some cookies," she invited.

As she sat down at her desk in the corner, she picked up a padd, and began to review the morning status report. Gerron brought her a cup of coffee as he did every morning. She took the cup, smiling warmly at him.

"Thank you, Gerron," she said.

He nodded, and then busied himself at his workstation which was adjacent to hers.

"Looking forward to the Christmas party tonight?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a smile. "I sure am!"

Bajorans celebrated a holiday a bit similar to Christmas every year, and although it wasn't quite the same thing, Gerron was looking forward to celebrating the occasion with his friends on the ship. He had heard Dalby and Henley excitedly discussing it in the Mess Hall, and they both encouraged him to come, as had Ensign Wildman. She had really taken him under her wing, and had given him an opportunity to excel in her department. Gerron enjoyed the work, and the camaraderie he felt from all of his fellow officers in the science department.

Several of his former Maquis friends were participating in the Christmas festivities, and when Dalby and Henley had described this holiday to him, it seemed like such fun. When his invitation had been delivered, he hadn't hesitated to RSVP right back to the commander. In fact, he was one of the first ones to confirm his attendance at the party.

Samantha adjusted a crooked ornament on the tree sitting in the corner. In the spirit of the holiday season, she'd allowed her staff to decorate a small pine tree which stood in the corner of the lab. They'd just finished it.

Several other departments had similar trees. The captain was in fact judging each of the departments on their trees. She would be stopping by each department later on in the day to look at each tree. The winning tree entitled everyone in the

department an extra ten replicator rations and two full hours of holodeck time. Every department had been working so hard on their tree. In the spirit of the holiday season, even Tuvok allowed his staff to decorate their own tree which sat in the brig. He logically had decided that the brig was the obvious choice to put the tree. He figured that no crewmembers would do anything to risk being tossed

into the brig, and miss out on the fun Christmas party.

Over in the Astrometrics lab, Seven, Naomi, Icheb, and the children were putting all the final touches on their own tree. Azan was very carefully applying the silver tinsel one strand at a time. Rebi and Naomi were both putting the last ornaments on. Icheb fished the gold star tree topper out of a storage bin.

"I want to put the star on top," Mezoti said.

Icheb handed it to her. He then scooped her up in his arms lifting her to reach the top. She carefully placed the star on the very top branch. Setting Mezoti down, Icheb then adjusted it. The five of them stood back to admire the tree they had all just decorated.

"It's finished, Seven," Icheb said.

Seven looked up from her console.

"It is very nice," she told them.

Mezoti came over, took Seven by the hand, and then led her over to the Christmas tree.

"Come look, Seven. I want to show you my favorite ornament," the young girl said.

Seven paused her work at her console, and allowed the young girl to lead her over to the tree. Mezoti then pointed out a glass ball with fake snow and a red poinsettia flower in it. Seven smiled a little, and then patted Mezoti on the arm in an approving manner.

"It is very pretty," she said. "I am sure the captain will be very pleased with our tree."

She was met by five smiling faces.

"You may begin your recreational activities at your leisure," she informed the children.

The four of them and Naomi started taking out various game padds, and other toys.

"Will you come and play too, Seven?" Mezoti asked Seven as she was helping Naomi set up the Kotis Kot board.

"I will join you when I have completed my work here," Seven told her.

A little later, Tom Paris stopped in to drop off a padd for Seven. As he came into the lab he smiled and gestured festively. Tom was certainly in a very good mood today, and there was a joyfulness in his step.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas one and all! I come bearing gifts for the lovely and very efficient Seven of Nine!" he bellowed.

Mezoti and Naomi giggled. Seven raised an eyebrow as she took the padd from him. He marveled at their adorable Christmas tree.

"Wow!" Paris said. "That's some tree!"

"Do you like it, Uncle Tom?" Naomi asked as she carefully readjusted an ornament over a bare spot in between two branches.

"I love it!" he said, looking the tree up and down. "And I know the captain will too!"

"Has Santa come yet?" Azan asked.

"Well, I just read a report that our sensors picked up his signal a few light years from here, so I'm sure he's on his way!" Paris said. "Not to worry. I predict he'll find his way here by late tonight right on schedule!"

"Seven, Santa really is coming!" Azan exclaimed. He was all smiles.

"Indeed he is," Seven told him.

"I can hardly wait for him to get here!" Naomi said, smiling happily.

"Me too!" Mezoti agreed.

Icheb quietly set to work at one of the aft sensor stations, and called to the children a few moments later.

"I found him," Icheb said, pointing at one of two dots on the screen. "We are here, and according to sensor scans, Santa's position is approximately at these coordinates."

The younger children all gathered in close to see. Seven gave Icheb a look of approval. Of course there really was nothing out there to scan, but Icheb's quick ingenuity had captured the children's attention expertly.

"Is he within visual range yet?" Naomi asked.

"Not yet," Icheb said.

Tom stayed a few moments more to look at the tree before bidding Seven, Icheb, and the children farewell, and going to the door.

"Well, I'd better get back up to the bridge before I'm reported as AWOL!" he joked. "I'll see you all later tonight at the party!"

On his way back to the bridge, Tom just couldn't help himself, and he took a little detour past the holodeck. He was hoping to get a tiny peek inside, but found the doors locked. He could just imagine the bustle of activity going on inside. Looking around to make sure no one was coming, Tom pressed his right ear up against the bulkhead to see if he could hear anything going on inside. Of course Tom already knew that the sound suppression system running in the conduits would prevent that, but he was still admittedly curious.

"Thomas Eugene Paris," a familiar female voice suddenly said in a mock disciplinary tone. "Are you snooping, young man?"

Tom turned to see B'Elanna standing there with one hand on her hip and a grin on her face. He started to blush and he cleared his throat. He was caught red-handed.

"I would never do such a thing," he said with a guilty grin on his cherry red face.

"Well, I would hope not," she joked.

"I was just uh...on my way back up to the bridge actually," he quickly covered.

He turned to walk away, but felt her grab him, and pull him back to her for a quick romantic embrace. The two came close to kissing right there in the corridor. Tom felt himself blush again. His ears tingled.

"All we need now is some mistletoe," Tom joked as he squeezed her waist tighter.

"See you tonight," B'Elanna whispered.

She turned and left.

"I can hardly wait!" Tom said out loud to himself. He then dashed quickly back up

to the bridge. He was still giggling softly to himself as he sat back down at the helm. Janeway pretended not to notice. She was willing to grant the crew a little leeway today, being that it was Christmas Eve.

A few hours later, Janeway decided that it was as good a time as any to visit the ship's various departments to judge the Christmas trees. Her legs needed a stretch anyway.

"Commander, I think I'll go and make my rounds of the ship now," she said standing up. "The bridge is yours.."

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay said.

Coffee mug in hand, Janeway made her way to the turbolift. As she was waiting

for the lift, she took notice of the crewman manning the aft science station nearest her. He snapped to a crisp and ramrod attention.

"As you were," Janeway said kindly. She casually leaned against the bulkhead near his station sipping her coffee while she was waiting for the lift. The young man relaxed his stiff posture a bit, but kept working.

"Crewman Lang, how are you?" she asked.

"Very good, Captain," he replied, pausing his work. He politely stood facing her with his hands clasped together behind his back.

"Glad to hear it," she said. "I trust that I will be seeing you at the party later tonight?"

"Yes, Captain," he said. "I'll be there."

"Good," she said just before entering the turbolift. She gave him a friendly pat on the arm. "Carry on then, Crewman."

Janeway visited deck two first where she found Neelix serving eggnog and cookies in the Mess Hall. The room was very festively decorated in tinsel, strands of colored lights and paper snowflakes of all shapes and size. Holiday music played in the background. A dozen or so crewmen all milled around the decorated room enjoying their lunch break.

"Captain!" Neelix greeted her warmly as soon as he saw her come into the room. "Merry Christmas! Please come join us!"

"Merry Christmas indeed!" she said. "Did you decide to start the holiday festivities a little early, Mister Neelix?" she asked him.

"Oh no," he said. "I just thought this place could use a little bit of sprucing up for the holidays! Would you care for a glass of fresh eggnog, Captain? It's quite good!"

"Well, maybe just a sip or two," she said, sitting at his counter and taking a visual survey of the room. Neelix came back a minute later with her drink. She took just a small sip, and was surprised that it had a little kick to it. She took another sip, and she casually chatted with a few of the crew who were on an early lunch break. They were all so happy and cheerful today.

She spotted the two Delaney sisters chatting with Ensign Garner and Crewman Benson as they enjoyed their lunch. Janeway almost hated to go. This was such a very pleasant gathering, and she felt very welcomed. Still, her rounds awaited her, and duty called.

"Well, I suppose I should continue on my rounds," the captain said as she set down her half empty glass. "Wonderful eggnog, Neelix!"

She gave Neelix a smile as she left. Next she was headed to sickbay to visit with the Doctor. She found him bustling about and tidying up his cabinets while singing along to a cheery melody of Christmas tunes the computer was playing in the background.

Next, Janeway visited deck four.

Samantha Wildman was just about ready to take her lunch break when the captain paid a visit. She didn't stay too long, just long enough to look at their Christmas tree, and exchange some holiday pleasantries with the science lab crew. Samantha offered her a cookie which the captain very gratefully accepted. As soon as the captain left to go on to the next department, Samantha logged off of her console to take her lunch break.

"Gerron, I'm taking my lunch break," she said. "You're in charge until I get back."

Gerron looked up at her from his task, and he nodded. There were of course higher ranking crewmen present, but Samantha liked for everyone to feel as if they were part of the team, and so she would routinely rotate the department's command structure. Her staff all seemed to appreciate all of the many opportunities it gave them to be in command, and they all respected Samantha for her fine leadership of the science lab.

On her way to the Mess Hall, Samantha stopped to pick Naomi and Mezoti up. As this was a special day, she had saved three replicator rations apiece for them to use. Samantha already had decided on baked ham, potatoes and apple pie. Both Naomi and Mezoti had chosen the macaroni and cheese, a bowl of tomato soup, and some chocolate pudding. As they walked into the Mess Hall, they were greeted by strings of brightly colored lights and long strands of silver garland strung everywhere. Their chief morale officer certainly had been very busy decorating in here last night. Neelix figured that a little Christmas decor was all that the Mess Hall needed to feel a little bit more cheery. He even had a selection of festive music playing softly as people ate.

"Wow!" Naomi and Mezoti said almost in perfect unison. Samantha just smiled.

"It's Christmas in here!" Mezoti said.

"It certainly is!" Samantha agreed.

They were in awe of all of the decorations. Neelix came up to them with a bright and cheerful smile, and greeted them warmly.

"Merry Christmas! Come in! Come in!" he said, stretching out both of his arms widely to welcome them into the Mess Hall.

"Hi, Neelix," Naomi greeted him.

"Hi, Neelix. The place really looks great," Samantha said, studying the decorations.

"Well, I'm just glad to do my part to add a bit of holiday cheer around here!" he said with a smile as he straightened a lopsided strand of silver garland that hung from his countertop. He ducked into the galley just briefly to grab a platter of hot food.

A mixture of aromas filled the room. Neelix came back, and he set out more platters. He also refilled one of what looked like a sort of a baked cream puff. Samantha couldn't readily identify about half of what was on the table, so she was glad she had decided to use some of her replicator rations today. She still had a good number of them left.

Samantha and the two girls quickly got their trays from the replicator, and they sat down. As they ate their meals, it seemed like every conversation they overheard all around them made some mention of the party. Everyone was so excited, anticipating the festivities.

Neelix was going from table to table with a big bowl full of assorted candy, offering a piece to any crewmembers who wanted a little Christmas treat. When he got to their table, Naomi selected a chocolate Santa. Mezoti chose a small candy cane. Samantha picked a peppermint patty. This was sure a nice treat for a Christmas Eve afternoon.

Neelix also provided the crew with a bit of unintended humor as he would occasionally get the tuft of golden hair atop his spotted head caught in one of the paper snowflakes hanging down from the ceiling. Each time he did, Naomi, Mezoti, and several others laughed at the Talaxian good-naturedly.

"I knew I should've hung these up higher," Neelix laughed as he untangled his mane from a low-hanging flake for the third time.

Depositing their stack of dirty lunch trays back into the replicator, Samantha sent the girls off to play in the cargo bay, and then headed back to the science lab. Naomi and Mezoti tried hard to busy themselves with a game of Kotis Kot, hoping it would make the time pass by more quickly. They were all very anxious for the party to commence. Rebi and Azan were also quite fidgety.

"Seven, is it time for the party yet?" Mezoti asked impatiently for about the third time in the past half an hour. Naomi giggled.

"No," Seven told her, looking up from her console where she was diligently working.

Not more than ten minutes later, it was Azan who was asking the same question.

"The Christmas party will commence at the proper designated time," Seven told him.

Azan exhaled a gusty sigh. It was just so hard to be patient when there was so much fun to be had. The children couldn't wait!

"Seven?" Rebi asked.

"Yes?"

"Is it the designated time yet?"

Seven just sighed. Naomi giggled

The captain was continuing her rounds of the ship. She next paid a visit to the brig to have a look at the security department's Christmas tree. She just couldn't help but giggle when she entered the brig only to find their decorated tree inside of a holding cell behind a forcedield. It was guarded by three armed security guards wearing red and white Santa hats with their uniforms. Not quite Starfleet

issue, but festive nonetheless. All three stifled smiles and soft giggles. The captain smiled at them, and gave Lieutenant Ayala a friendly clap on the shoulder.

"Your prisoner certainly looks very festive today," she joked, laughing at the sight.

"Thank you, Captain," he nodded.

"Mind if I conduct a little interrogation?"

"Not at all, Captain," Ayala responded as he lowered the forcefield to allow her a closer inspection of the prisoner. She gave the tree a once over, and then nodded her approval.

"Very good then. Carry on, Lieutenant," she told him before leaving for her last stop:

Engineering.

She found the Engineering staff all bustling about, and attending to their various duties with zeal. She spotted Torres working at her usual workstation, and went to greet her.

"Merry Christmas, Lieutenant," the captain greeted her chief engineer with a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas, Captain," B'Elanna said. "You're just in time. Our tree was finished about ten minutes ago." She indicated their tree.

The captain saw it in the corner. It was decorated with a variety of spare engine components made to resemble ornaments and tinsel. Janeway just smiled. It certainly was a very original looking Christmas tree.

"Well, this is quite impressive," the captain said as she very carefully studied the tree.

"Lieutenant Carey's idea," Torres explained. "He collected all the spare parts himself."

"Wonderful job, everyone," Janeway said. "And Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" they echoed.

Her rounds complete, Janeway was very tempted to just take a quick peek inside the holodeck to see how Neelix and all of the others were coming along, but she stopped herself. It just wouldn't do for the captain to get caught snooping when she'd forbidden everyone else from doing the same. On her way back to the bridge, she was cheerfully greeted by every crewmember that she met. Everyone was sure in good spirits today.

On the holodeck, Neelix was scampering all about making sure that everything was in its place. He directed several of the party set-up crew where to place things, and made a quick adjustment to a strand of garland on the wooden bannister. In the next room, two ensigns were just finishing the assembly of a mechanical toy train while a couple others were straightening a large wreath that they'd just hung up

above one of the doorways. Neelix stood back to survey the large room. Everything was all neatly decorated and the room was ready for the crew's big party.

"Perfect!" Neelix exclaimed. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we're finally done!"

Everyone stood back to admire all of their hard work, and they applauded. They had only had three weeks to get everything all prepared, but they'd all done a fine job if Neelix did say so himself. It was good.

"I can't wait until the rest of the crew sees all of this!" Meghan Delaney exclaimed.

"I wish we could start the party right now!" her twin sister Jenny said with a smile.

"The party will be here before we even know it!" Neelix told them happily.

As the rest of his helpers left to go and get themselves ready for the party later, Neelix glanced around the grand room once more. Everything was all ready and in its place. He'd be back in just a few short hours to greet the party arrivals, but for now, he had his own preparations to make for the party. He locked the program up, and then left.

There was definitely a palpable sense of unabated glee and excitement on the bridge. Everyone, including the captain, could feel the Christmas spirit in the air. The crew was trying so hard to remain attentive to their duties. They were all looking forward to the party that was sure to be great fun for all.

The captain's rounds of the ship had taken the better part of two hours. When Janeway returned to the bridge, Chakotay greeted her with an easy smile as she sat down again.

"How was your stroll, Captain?" he asked.

"Quite pleasant," she said, smiling. "Felt good to give my legs a little stretch."

She turned her attention to Tom up at the helm. He was keeping a watchful eye on the sensors. Fortunately nothing of concern had popped up during any of their many scans.

"How does it look up ahead, Tom?" she asked, hoping for nothing that would put a damper on their plan for a great celebration.

"All quiet on the western front, Captain," he responded with a great sigh of relief.

"Glad to hear it," she said with a sigh of relief of her own. "Steady as she goes then."

As the hours passed, Janeway could sense that Tom Paris was becoming just slightly fidgety at the helm. She smiled at him. She understood his anxiety and anticipation. She had felt it from nearly every person on the ship. Everyone was excited for the party.

"The time is now 1700 hours," the computer suddenly announced shipwide.

At the helm, Tom nearly fell out of his seat in utter excitement as soon as he heard the conputer's announcement. Harry laughed at his friend a little. Even the captain was a bit startled by the computer's announcement. Her mind had wandered off to so many different places today that she'd forgotten that she had programmed the computer to make that announcement. All over the ship, the crew eagerly awaited her message.

"Harry, would you please open a shipwide comm channel," the captain asked him.

"Channel open, Captain," Kim replied with a smile and a few quick taps on his console.

Janeway exchanged a quick smile with Chakotay, stood up, and then moved to the center of the bridge to address the crew.

"To all crewmembers, this is Janeway. I know we've all been eagerly awaiting this day for many weeks, and now it's finally here. Each of you have worked very hard

to earn this special holiday celebration, and I know we'll have some great fun this evening. Our Christmas party will officially commence in one hour on holodeck two. Now, without further adue, let the festivities begin! Merry Christmas! Janeway out!"

Tom Paris just couldn't hold it all in one second longer, and he let out a big whoop. The bridge crew all applauded the captain's speech. They then mingled there briefly with one another. Many friendly claps on the shoulder and warm handshakes were exchanged all around as everyone gradually left to prepare for the big Christmas bash.

A group of ensigns left the bridge smiling and laughing with one another. Paris and Kim left shortly after, the two excitedly jabbering with one another. Finally, only Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, and a crewman at tactical were left there on the bridge. As she turned to Tuvok, the captain smiled.

"Well, Tuvok," she said. "I leave the ship in your very capable hands until tomorrow!"

He nodded once.

"Enjoy the party, Captain," Tuvok said.

"I'm sure we will!" she said smiling as she turned to move towards the turbolift.

"And...Merry Christmas, Captain."

Janeway turned back to face Tuvok, a smile stretching from cheek to cheek.

"Merry Christmas to you, Tuvok!" she said.

"Merry Christmas, Tuvok," Chakotay said, giving the Vulcan a smile and a clap on the shoulder. Tuvok nodded once again.

"Merry Christmas, Commander," the dark Vulcan said stoicly as if he were giving a highly important speech to a room full of Starfleet admirals. He then sat down in the command chair with a padd in his hands.

As the turbolift doors opened, Chakotay allowed the captain to precede him. He gave her a smile as he invited her to go ahead.

"After you, Kathryn," he said.

The turbolift then deposited each of them on their respective decks near their cabins.

Neelix was already on the holodeck very anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first party guests. He made his last walkthrough of the large house, making sure that all was in its place, and ready for the grand party.

He anticipated that the crew would begin to arrive momentarily, and he would be right there at the door ready to greet them all.

He could hardly wait!

Captain Janeway exited the turbolift onto deck three, and as she neared her quarters, a nearly overpowering scent almost knocked her right over. She thought she recognized the smell...fruitcakes. She followed the very strong scent until she came to her quarters. The aroma was definitely emanating from inside, but why would there be fruitcake in her quarters? As she entered the room, her jaw dropped in shock at what she saw.

Fruitcakes were stacked literally head-high everywhere in her quarters. They were all over the place, stacked on the floor, on her tables, chairs, shelves, and even in her tub! There were probably hundreds of them in her quarters. Janeway picked up one of the fruitcakes, and she just shook her head in disbelief. Still, she couldn't help laughing.

"Thomas Eugene Paris," she laughed as she set the cake down on the table.

She knew that somehow Tom had to figure into this little prank. With a few quick taps of her desk console, the cakes were beamed to cargo bay one. Tom would get a talking to later tonight for sure. Janeway changed into her pajamas, and donned her silky pink robe and her slippers. Grabbing her pillow and sleeping bag, she left, heading for the turbolift. On her way, she was greeted by a few other happy pajama-clad crewmembers also on their way to the holodeck with their pillows and sleeping bags in tow. Judging by their excited chatter and laughter, they too were looking forward to it as she was. Chakotay was by chance already in the lift when she boarded. He too had his sleeping bag and pillow with him. His pajamas were a dark maroon and light tan striped pattern.

"Merry Christmas, Kathryn," he greeted her as he moved aside to make room for her.

"Merry Christmas, Chakotay," she said.

The thought of all those fruitcakes in her quarters came back to her, and she laughed.

"Something funny?" he asked.

"Oh, let's just say I suspect it was another one of Mr. Paris's practical jokes," she said.

"Oh...I see you found the fruitcakes," he said with a grin. "I think Neelix has been looking for those ever since this morning."

"And Tom re-routed them to my quarters!" she said. "I suppose I'll have to permanently revoke all of his replicator privileges!"

"Either that, or make him eat them all," the First Officer joked. "He might have them all gone by the time we make it back home!"

They both laughed at Tom's expense.

Deck six was abuzz with a flurry of activity. Several crewmembers were making their way to the holodeck. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay could actually hear the festive sounds of the party from down the corridor. As they neared the holodeck entrance, several of the crew stepped aside to allow them through. As soon as Janeway stepped foot onto the holodeck, she found herself in a hallway area with wood panel walls. Old-fashioned sconces on the walls gave soft illumination to the room. A set of double doors led into the great room. The moment that Janeway entered, she was just in awe of her surroundings. She

couldn't help herself and she gasped at the plethora of sights and sounds all around her that just flooded all of her senses to overflowing.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, her jaw dropping in incredible awe of what she was seeing.

"Wow!" Chakotay gasped, unable to help himself. He too was very impressed by this.

Everything was just so festive and cheery. The holodeck grid had been transformed into a large colonial-style house with tall créme colored ceilings, wood panel walls, and brightly polished wooden floors which were accentuated with several large holiday themed rugs. A brightly lit Christmas tree almost as tall as the ceiling was the focal point of the larger room. It was decorated with hundreds of ornaments, so many that Janeway couldn't possibly count them all. Nestled under the tree were piles of gifts. These were the Secret Santa gifts which would be exchanged and opened later on.

A cozy, hot fire was blazing in a large and ornate fireplace, and the hardwood floors glowed with the reflection of tree lights. Captain Janeway had not ever seen a more elaborate party in all her life. She also had not seen her crew quite this happy in a long time. This party had boosted everyone's morale at least tenfold, and it was obvious.

Everywhere the captain looked there was a decorated table or a small decorated tree. Signs of Christmas were all around her. Tall arched windows, some draped with velvet red curtains, gave view to the snowy forest landscape outside. Frost on the windows told of the frigid temperature outside, but it was warm and toasty inside. Smiles and friendly nods from her crew greeted her at every turn. Even the huge Christmas parties her parents had thrown for all her father's Starfleet colleagues couldn't compare to this party. This was a special party. A crewman approached them, and offered to take their pillows and sleeping bags upstairs. She and Chakotay handed their sleeping gear to him.

"Thank you, Crewman Platt," Janeway said with a warm smile. "Nice to see you here."

Crewman Platt smiled and nodded before trudging upstairs with their sleeping gear. Both Janeway and Chakotay then took the opportunity to mingle around the room a bit. Janeway spotted Neelix moving about amongst several small groups, a tray of cookies in his hand. He came over to her.

"Merry Christmas, Captain!" he said.

"Merry Christmas to you, Neelix!" she said. "And job well done. Everything is lovely."

"Thank you, Captain," he responded. "But I owe all of that to my wonderful decorating committee. They worked for days and days getting the place all ready for our party. I couldn't have done it without all of them!"

"My compliments to you all," she said.

"Merry Christmas, Neelix!" Chakotay greeted the festively-clad Talaxian cook.

"Merry Christmas, Commander!" Neelix said. "May I offer you both a dessert?"

Janeway and Chakotay studied his tray of assorted cookies, brownies, and fudges, and each chose a sweet. The captain savored the small square piece of fudge on her tongue. It seemed to almost melt right in her mouth. It was delicious. Chakotay chose a peanut butter fudge brownie for himself. It was still a bit warm from the oven as he bit into it.

A chorus of light-hearted laughter came from one corner of the room. The place was alive with a festive and cheery feeling.

"Oh! I believe I see more party arrivals! Do pardon me, Captain, Commander!" Neelix said as he quickly went off to greet some more of the crew who had just arrived.

Chakotay nodded and smiled to a few of the crew that he recognized, including a happy and smiling Greg Ayala who waved at him. The party was nearly in full swing now, and Chakotay was enjoying every moment of it. This had sure done a lot to boost everyone's spirits and morale for the past few weeks.

"Ensign Fitzpatrick! Crewman Dell, it's so good to see you!" Neelix exclaimed as he happily welcomed them both to the party.

Janeway smiled, savoring the joyful sights and sounds all around her. It was so nice to see the whole crew looking so happy again. Lieutenant Nicoletti was seated at the piano playing while Harry Kim accompanied her on his clarinet. A few crewmembers were all gathered 'round them, and singing an old Christmas song "O Come All Ye Faithful". The captain smiled to see the happy faces of her crew all

around her. This holiday party had certainly been a wonderful way to boost everyone's sagging morale. It was certainly doing that, judging from the happy sounds that she was hearing from the crew here.

Janeway moved about the large room easily, greeting every person that she met. She was warmly invited to join the group over by the piano, and chimed in on a chorus or two with them before moving on to mingle with a group over near one of the windows. She spotted Ensign Grier moving all about the room with a holocam to capture all of the festivities. On one wall of the room there hung a mass of stockings, one for each of the crew. Each one was embroidered with a name, and was bursting full of small gifts, and an assortment of candies. Even the air smelled festive with the scent of pine tree and baked goods. It was a lovely holiday scent, coupled with the sounds of happy laughter, chatter, and holiday music.

More crewmembers were shuffling in a few at a time, and each one was very cheerfully greeted at the door by Neelix. Several of them helped themselves to a drink or a little snack from the buffet table. Several smaller tables all about were also laden with a little variety of cookies, chocolates, and snacks. A drink table beside the buffet hosted a big punch bowl, a keg of hot cocoa, and there was of course the traditional egg nog as well. A small selection of other beverages

was also on the same table there as well.

"May I get you a drink?" Chakotay asked.

"Some tea would be lovely. Thank you," Janeway said. She thought it best to stay away from the coffee so that she could actually sleep later on this evening.

Chakotay nodded and moved towards the drink table. A few moments later he came back with her mug of tea, and some hot chocolate with marshmallows for himself.

"Here you are, Kathryn," he said, handing her a red ceramic mug filled with a slightly frothy brownish liquid. She took the mug.

"Neelix calls this holiday tea," he said.

"Thank you," she said.

The warmth of the smooth ceramic mug felt good in her hands. Janeway blew into the mug gently, sending a small plume of steam billowing. After her tea had cooled off a bit, she took a small sip. It had just a little hint of cinnamon mixed together with a touch of peppermint. It tasted very good to her.

"This tea is delicious!" she exclaimed.

"Mmm!" Chakotay said as he sipped his own beverage. His hot chocolate was in a green mug. This perhaps was the best hot chocolate he had ever tasted. It was so rich and creamy. The marshmallows seemed to almost melt in his mouth, and there was even a thin layer of whipped cream on top. He licked some chocolate and cream from his top lip as he took another small sip of it.

The captain was off mingling with a few crewmembers over by the tree. Chakotay spotted Lieutenant Ayala chatting with Ensign Golwat, so he decided to join them. A cookie and cocoa in tow, he made his way over. Neelix was still scurrying about the room, refilling several candy bowls, and making sure that there was always a good supply of drinks on hand. He also stopped to greet all of the new arrivals to the party.

"Happy holidays, Greg," Chakotay greeted the dark haired security officer. He bade the same to the blue-skinned Ensign Golwat.

They both nodded and smiled.

"Some party, isn't it, Commander?" Ayala remarked with an easy smile towards him.

"It sure is!" Chakotay agreed.

"I haven't had this much fun since the time we all glued B'Elanna's tools to the warp core back on the Liberty. Remember?"

All three laughed.

"I always wondered who did that," the First Officer laughed and smiled.

Ayala raised his hand.

"Guilty as charged," he grinned.

"Not to worry. Your secret is safe with me," Chakotay reassured the both of them.

Seven and the children arrived next. Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi all marveled at the colorful decorations and lights. The children hadn't ever experienced a Christmas celebration before, and all of the festivities fascinated them. Icheb appeared slightly more reserved than the other children, but still curious.

"Merry Christmas, Seven!" Janeway said as she greeted the ex-Borg woman. Seven was wearing pajamas of a deep red hue.

"Merry Christmas, Captain," Seven replied. "Please excuse our tardiness. We had some debate over our sleeping bag colors."

As Seven said this, she gave Azan and Rebi a slight look of exasperation, but behind it was just a hint of a small grin. The captain had to resist the urge to laugh, and quickly covered it with a smile as she looked at the three younger children dressed up in their very festive holiday-themed pajamas.

"Merry Christmas, Icheb, children," the captain said. "Welcome to the party!"

"Merry Christmas, Captain," Mezoti said.

"Seven of Nine, can we go look at the tree? Can we please, Seven? We want to see it!" Rebi begged her. Azan echoed his brother.

"After we have stowed our sleeping gear upstairs you may look at the tree," she said.

No sooner had Seven spoken did Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi make a mad dash for the stairs. They were in such a hurry that the three of them practically tripped over one another in their haste to get up the stairs.

"Azan, Rebi, Mezoti, please proceed up the stairs in an orderly manner," she told them.

The children tried to contain their obvious excitement, and they trudged up the stairs in a slightly more orderly fashion followed by Seven and Icheb. A few crewmembers just laughed at the children's exuberance. The children placed their sleeping bags and their pillows with the others in one of the rooms upstairs. No sooner had Seven come back downstairs did Azan and Rebi each grab an arm as they half dragged and half steered her over to the large Christmas tree. Mezoti was off studying some other decorations in the other room while Icheb was scrutinizing one of the small dessert and drink tables.

The captain had to laugh as she overheard the younger boys peppering Seven with a barrage of questions, hardly giving her time to answer one before the next one came. Even Icheb seemed to be enjoying the party as he quickly got a beverage and a plate full of cookies for himself. He spotted Chakotay and Paris, and he went to go talk to them.

"I hope B'Elanna gets here soon," Tom said, chewing a bite of his chocolate chip cookie. "She'll miss all of the fun."

"I'm sure she'll be along as soon as she can get away from Engineering," Chakotay said as he took a sip from his still warm cocoa.

A power relay had suddenly decided to rather inconveniently burn out in the warp coil assembly, which meant that B'Elanna and half a dozen engineers were stuck in Engineering having to work overtime to fix it. Janeway had assured B'Elanna that the repairs could wait until after the party, but Torres had insisted on getting repairs underway immediately. The captain knew how meticulous Torres always was about her engines, and so she finally had left the Chief Engineer to her repairs. However, she encouraged them not to miss too much of the party, and Torres was very keen not to. Tom felt a little bad. He knew B'Elanna was really looking forward to this party. He just hoped she would get here soon. Both Tom and

Chakotay regarded Icheb politely as the young man approached. He nodded to them.

"Icheb, how are you enjoying the party?" Chakotay asked with a friendly clap on Icheb's shoulder.

"It is interesting," Icheb answered.

"Have you seen the tree yet? It's amazing!" Tom said.

"Not yet," Icheb said, chewing a small bite of his cookie. "But I will examine it later."

Over by the tree, the younger Borg children were busily inspecting some of the festive decorations as Seven looked on. Azan then excitedly pointed to one of the ornaments on a lower branch, and tugged at Seven of Nine's sleeve. He pointed the ornament out to her, and Seven saw that it was engraved with his name. Rebi and Mezoti soon found their ornaments as well. Seven's was higher up on the tree, but

she could see it nestled beside a smaller ceramic Santa ornament. Neelix approached them, balancing a full drink tray in his hands. There were a variety of beverages to choose from on the tray.

"Seven, children, may I offer you a drink?" he asked, holding the tray out to them.

"Thank you, Neelix," Seven replied as she briefly studied the tray. She wisely stayed away from the alcoholic beverages, instead choosing a glass of punch, as did Icheb. Rebi selected a mug of hot chocolate while his brother chose a mug of hot apple cider.

"Seven, can we have a cookie?" Azan asked as he eyed up a dessert tray on the buffet table. Rebi was also looking at the desserts. Seven nodded her permission to them both.

"You may," she said.

The boys returned a couple minutes later with plates nearly overflowing with stacks of cookies, brownies, chocolates, and other treats. Seven regarded their heaping plates with a raised eyebrow and a slight sigh.

"Seven, look at all the cookies!" Rebi said with full cheeks, crumbs on his chin, and a full plate. He was clearly enjoying himself.

"I believe you have sampled a sufficient amount of dessert for the evening," she said.

"Oh, not to worry," Neelix said with a smile. "Plenty more food to go around!"

Arriving very soon afterwards were Joe Carey, Samantha, and Naomi. Naomi would have normally been one of the first to the party, but they'd waited for Joe to pick them up. Then they had gotten a bit caught up in all of the hustle and bustle in the corridor.

Samantha was wearing simple red pajamas with a candy cane print while Naomi was in blue pajamas with a reindeer print. Mezoti greeted Naomi excitedly, and the two ran off to the other room. Joe quickly offered to take their things upstairs, and left with his arms full. Samantha grabbed a brownie and some punch, and she headed over to Seven who was chatting with Crewman Gilmore. Mezoti and Naomi were hovering nearby. The Norcadian girl greeted Samantha with a hug which Samantha returned.

"Merry Christmas, Mezoti!" Samantha said.

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Samantha!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Seven!" Samantha greeted Seven warmly with a gentle squeeze to the woman's arm.

"Merry Christmas, Samantha," Seven said.

Samantha also exchanged similar greetings with Marla Gilmore as Naomi and Mezoti ran to the next room giggling and playing.

"Quite a party, isn't it?" Samantha asked.

"It is," Seven agreed.

"The children seem to be having fun. How are they enjoying their first Christmas?" Samantha asked Seven.

"They have greatly anticipated this event for many days." Seven said. "As have I."

Just then, Samantha spotted Gerron over with Crewman Dalby. Squeezing Seven's arm in a friendly gesture, Samantha then politely excused herself, and made her way over to Gerron to greet the young man.

"Enjoying the party, Gerron?" she asked.

"Yes, very much," he said.

"Glad to hear it!" she said. "Mariah, Ken, it's nice to see you both here too."

Crewman Mariah Henley and Crewman Ken Dalby also greeted Samantha with easy smiles. Samantha then panned the large room in search of wherever Naomi had gone running off to. No doubt that she was likely with Mezoti or the twins.

"Well, I'd better go see where Naomi has run off to. I'll see you both later!" she said.

A few minutes later, Samantha found her daughter. She and Mezoti were playing with a wooden Nutcracker statue and a ceramic Santa. Apparently the two girls were attempting to make the wooden doll and ceramic Santa dance. Samantha laughed at the girls.

As soon as the last few crewmembers had arrived, Chakotay approached the captain.

"Everyone has arrived, Kathryn," he said.

She nodded to him as she took a sip of tea. Chakotay then tapped his mug several times with a spoon to call the room to order. The captain stood on the small landing flanked by two small Christmas trees. She was just about to give her customary holiday speech. All over the room conversations dwindled to polite silence and the music stopped as everyone directed their attention to her. The captain's traditional speech was always one of the high points of their annual Christmas celebrations. It was almost a ritual of sorts.

"Good evening, everyone," the captain said with a warm smile. "Merry Christmas!"

A cheerful chorus of "Good evening's" and "Merry Christmas'es" greeted her in turn.

She looked out at a sea of kind faces that all looked back at her in reverence and respect.

"This has been another year of both joys and sadnesses for our Voyager family. We remember those who are no longer with us, but we rejoice in the company of our good family here. We also fondly remember our loved ones back home, and look forward to the day when we see them again, and can celebrate this holiday and every holiday in their company again. As we are about to embark on yet another year of this journey together, may you always remember how proud I am of each of you. Throughout our journey back home, we have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and also the occasional tragedy, but we have all come through it as stronger people. I'd like to say for the record that no captain in the fleet could ask for a finer crew than this crew!"

Every face regarded her warmly.

"And no other crew in Starfleet has ever had a finer captain than Kathryn Janeway!" Chakotay said stepping forward and then raising his glass up high to his captain.

"Hear! Hear!" Tom said, raising his glass.

"Three cheers for Captain Janeway!" the First Officer announced. "Hip...hip..."

"Hooray!" the crew shouted in unison.

Twice more they cheered for their captain. Chakotay began to clap his hands. Soon the entire crew followed suit, applauding for the captain. Janeway bowed her head briefly, and then she held a hand up. The applause quieted, and she spoke again.

"Thank you all, and now I think we owe a round of applause to our wonderful morale officer Neelix, and our fellow crewmembers who worked so hard to make this evening possible. Job well done to all of you!"

Janeway led the crew in a very hearty applause for their wonderful host Neelix.

Neelix smiled.

"Thank you, Captain...everyone. It's good to see you all here. Dinner has been prepared in the dining room, and is ready whenever we are," he said with a smile.

"All of this and dinner too? Impressive!" Chakotay said with an expression of awe.

"Well, what are we waiting for!" Kim said jokingly. "Let's eat!"

There was a soft chorus of laughter as they all made their way over to the dining room. There were several tables set, each laden with large bowls and platters of delicious food. The hearty aromas tantalized their taste buds. There was baked ham and turkey plus all of the trimmings, cornbread stuffing, a very delicious looking green bean casserole, baked scalloped potatoes, corn, baskets of fresh, hot rolls, loaves of soft cornbread, as well as a choice of apple pie or pumpkin pie for dessert. Each table was adorned with a very beautiful pine cone and holly berry centerpiece and lit candles. There also was a decorated name card at each place setting to indicate where everyone was to sit.

Once everyone found their place at a table, Neelix dimmed the chandelier lights and took his own spot. The very happy, smiling faces of the crew reflected the warm glow of the soft dancing candlelight which cast soothing shadows on the dining room walls.

"Chakotay, would you offer a blessing for our food before we eat?" she asked him.

Chakotay nodded. He stood up.

"In the tradition of my people," he said. "I will offer a blessing for our meal."

Everyone was silent. Chakotay stood with his arms raised, palms pointing upwards. Janeway also assumed this pose at her seat as did a few others. Chakotay spoke.

"We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water. We return thanks to all herbs which furnish medicines for the cure of diseases. We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon all the earth with its beneficial eye. Lastly, we

return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness, and Who directs all things for the good of Her children."

Lowering his hands, Chakotay sat down.

"That was a beautiful prayer, Chakotay," Janeway said softly as she put her hand gently on his, allowing it to rest there for a few moments. They shared a smile.

Janeway took a whiff of the turkey. It smelled wonderful, and looked delicious.

"This smells wonderful," she said as she carved a neat slice out of the tender meat. She then slathered her slice of turkey with a ladle-ful of warm gravy.

"Can't disagree with that!" Chakotay said as he laid his napkin in his lap, and proceeded to load his plate up with some green bean casserole. Being a vegetarian, he stayed away from the ham and turkey, but he did take a good-sized helping of the casserole, two rolls, a slice of cornbread, and a generous helping of corn.

Fine China dishes, red cloth napkins, and gold plated silverware for each place setting provided a fitting touch to this wonderful meal. The crew was heartily enjoying it, as well as the company of their good friends around them. Looking around her table as well as around the dining room, Janeway had to smile at the sight of her crew looking so happy. Neelix had truly outdone himself this year with this party. It was wonderful.

Not surprisingly, Tom Paris provided the comedic relief during their dessert when he playfully dabbed a dollop of whipped cream on the end of his nose, and then pretended not to notice that it was there. A couple of minutes later, Harry was next, and then it was Ayala. Soon Chakotay was in on it too, followed by Naomi and Icheb, and the Borg children. In short order, the entire table was laughing at all of the whip creamed noses.

Even Seven smiled at the children.

"Lieutenant Paris," she said. "You appear to be inciting mass disobedience."

"Perhaps you should instruct him to initiate the appropriate punishment protocols," Icheb suggested, smiling. The young man still had a small dab of cream on his nose.

They all laughed.

Seven raised an eyebrow, and then her fork, leaving a dab of cream on her nose. With a serious expression on her face, she looked at the captain, seated a few chairs down.

"If you can't beat them, you must join them," Seven remarked in a serious tone.

Everyone at the table laughed again.

Seven had heard Tom Paris use a similar phrase once on the holodeck when she had joined him for a recreation of a World War II era simulation several months ago.

The captain too dabbed a bit of cream on the tip of her nose, much to Paris's delight.

"Resistance is futile," Janeway joked.

When dinner had been cleared away, the party easily moved back over into the grand room. Clarinet in hand, Harry led his group of musicians in "Joy to the World" as the crew all dispersed to marvel at the decor, sneak a peek under the Christmas tree, or just mingle about around the dessert tables.

"Come on, Mom!" Naomi pleaded. "Let's go find our stockings on the wall now!"

"I'm coming, honey," Samantha said as she finished up her last bite of chocolate chip cookie, and licked crumbs from her finger.

Naomi grabbed a hold of her mother's hand and pulled her over to the wall where all of the stockings were hung up. Several others were looking at the smaller decorated trees which were all about the rooms. These in fact were the trees being judged by Captain Janeway for the tree decorating contest. The winners would all be announced by Neelix.

"Seven, can we look for our stockings?" Azan asked. Seven nodded at the children.

Icheb and the children hastily went off in search of their Christmas stockings. Seven then followed them, in search of her own.

The party continued on, and soon all of the musicians took a break to join in on all the fun. Harry quickly ordered the computer to play some Christmas tunes to serve as some background music, and then he wandered over to the stocking wall to search for his. He searched up high and down low for a good few minutes until he finally saw it. He pumped his fist in victory as he scooped it up, and held it up high. He had a huge smile on his face stretched out from ear to ear.

"Found it!" he cried out excitedly.

A few moments later, Naomi spotted her stocking, and she squealed in delight.

"I found mine, Mom!" she announced. "And I found yours too! It's over here, Mom!"

"I'll be there in a bit, sweetie," Samantha said as she chatted with Crewman Orlando and Ensign Norris a few feet away.

"Hey, mom...there's a little present in your stocking!" Naomi informed her mother.

Samantha laughed a bit at her daughter's exuberance. Joe then came over with a

plate of cookies which he shared with her.

"Thanks, Joe," she said as she took a sugar cookie from the plate and bit into it. It was still warm and soft, almost melting in her mouth. It tasted almost like the cookies that her mother used to make for her as a child.

She turned to Neelix.

"These are wonderful cookies, Neelix!"

"Thanks," he said. "I found the recipe in the culinary database, and thought I'd try it."

Azan and Rebi both having found their stockings, began looking through them. Each sniffed their candy inquisitively. Naomi popped a piece of her own candy into her mouth to show them what it was.

"It's candy. You can eat it," she explained.

"Can we eat our candy, Seven?" Rebi asked.

Seven had her own stocking with her.

"You may," she said.

The children began sampling their candy. Azan particularly liked the peppermints. Rebi seemed to like the little butterscotch candies best while Mezoti and Naomi both liked the chocolate peanut butter Santas.

"Careful," the Doctor warned them. "Not too much now. You don't want to get a tummy ache from eating too much candy."

Seven of Nine was nearby occupied going through her own stocking. In it amognst all of her assorted candy, she found a holo-rod that contained a holodeck program, as well as a polaric decoupler. It had a little red bow tied around it. She had lost hers on an away mission some months earlier, and she hadn't yet had an opportunity to replicate a new one. Seven was very particular about her work tools, and calibrated them all to her exact standards. She noted that this one was already adjusted to her exact likings.

Chakotay observed het studying the small tool, and he came over to join her there.

"A polaric decoupler...no one should ever be without one," he said with a smile.

Seven nodded.

"Apparently Santa agrees with you," she said with a slight grin, placing the tool back into her Christmas stocking.

Just then, she was hastily summoned over to the window where Azan and Rebi were rummaging through their stockings. Both boys had various little toys and candy from their stockings scattered around them, and clearly they were both having fun playing.

"Seven of Nine, look! Santa brought us toys and candy!" Rebi exclaimed as he showed her his stash of goodies and small trinkets.

His brother Azan was off sitting beside the tree not too far away playing with a small game cube that he'd found in his stocking.

"Yes, he has," Seven nodded.

"Seven?" Azan asked.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Is fun still irrelevant?"

"No," she answered. "You may all have fun. It is a special occasion. Fun is permitted."

The boys were not being very orderly, but Seven decided that this was one time that she could allow the children free reign.

"Christmas is fun!" Rebi smiled.

"I am pleased that you both are enjoying this social occasion," she told the boys.

"Are you having fun too, Seven?" Mezoti asked as she clutched her own stocking.

"Yes," Seven responded.

Seven then observed Icheb holding a small box, scrutinizing it carefully. He looked a bit perplexed by the unidenrifiable object. Seven came over to Icheb to investigate.

"Icheb?" she asked.

"I found this box in my stocking, but I can't identify its contents," he told Seven.

He showed her the black leather box. In it was a small metallic silver bar. Seven too was a bit confused as to the purpose of this mysterious gift. She handed the box back.

"Perhaps the purpose of this gift will be revealed tomorrow when you open your other gifts," Seven of Nine guessed.

There were only a few stockings left on the wall now. Janeway saw Chakotay with his, and decided that she'd better go and retrieve hers. Over in the next room, Samantha was seated at one of the long dining tables and rummaging through her stocking. Several other crewmembers were doing the same.

Looking at the bottom of her stocking, she saw a small black velvet box nestled atop a pile of assorted candy. Samantha carefully retrieved it, and she read the gift tag. It was from Joe Carey. When she opened the box she gasped. Inside were the most beautiful, shiny blue topaz earrings. Samantha knew that they must've cost him several replicator rations. No wonder why he had been eating so much of

Neelix's food these past months. She went to go find him to thank him.

"Oh, Joe!" she gasped, holding the pair of earrings up to the light so they sparkled. "These are beautiful! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Sam," he smiled.

Samantha put them on straight away. Just then, they both heard some soft giggling. They both looked at Naomi who rather amusingly pointed upwards above their heads. Both Joe and Samantha looked up above their heads to see that they were standing directly under a small sprig of mistletoe. They both blushed a little bit.

Joe cleared his throat, his dimple showing.

"Uh oh," Samantha joked.

"May I?" Joe asked.

Samantha nodded. Joe gave her a polite kiss on the cheek. Naomi giggled and ran off to go find Mezoti. Samantha just laughed and shook her head. Her daughter was quite the sneaky one, and had no doubt been aided and abetted by either Neelix or Tom Paris.

"I think we were just set up," Joe said.

"I think so too," Samantha laughed.

The holodeck doors then suddenly parted, and in walked Ensign Vorik, dressed in his typical, plain sleepwear. A neatly rolled up sleeping bag was tucked up under his arm.

"Mr. Vorik!" Neelix greeted him with a wide smile. "Glad you finally made it!"

"Mr. Neelix," Vorik greeted him.

"It's nice to have you with us, Vorik," Chakotay greeted the young Vulcan.

"Thank you, Commander. Ordinarily it would be illogical to partake in such a festive event, however I occasionally am fascinated by the observances of other cultures. I therefore decided to 'throw caution to the wind' as Mr. Paris would say, and attend this social event."

"Well, we're very glad that you're here! Merry Christmas, Vorik!" Janeway said.

Vorik nodded. "Good evening, Captain."

"I take it that everything is under control in Engineering then?" the captain asked him.

"Yes, Captain," he said. "Repairs are nearly complete. Lieutenant Torres should be here shortly. I think she's presently in sickbay."

"Sickbay?" the captain asked. "Is she ill?"

"Not precisely, Captain. However, she did introduce the malfunctioning power relay to her right foot quite unpleasantly, although I am uncertain whether that was more painful for the relay or for the Lieutenant's foot."

Captain Janeway couldn't help herself, and started to laugh. She was laughing so much in fact that she had to take hold of Vorik's arm to steady herself. That was B'Elanna!

Vorik then departed upstairs, and stowed his sleeping gear neatly atop the pile of other sleeping bags and pillows, and then rejoined the festivities downstairs.

"May I offer you some of my very special Christmas punch, Mr. Vorik?" Neelix asked as he held a large tray of drinks out to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Neelix," Vorik said as he accepted a glass of red liquid. He tasted it carefully, raising an eyebrow at the drink. "A very intriguing beverage," he observed.

Just then there was an eruption of very loud laughter as several people noticed that a bit of mistletoe had all of a sudden appeared in the doorway where Chakotay was standing. Ordinarily this wouldn't be cause for much embarrassment to Chakotay, however, he just happened to be standing next to Greg Ayala at the moment. Both men looked up above their heads at about the same time. Ayala laughed, and then started backing up.

"Well, someone needs to kiss me!" the First Officer playfully joked. "Who will it be?"

"Not me!" Ayala joked. "Kiss Dalby!"

Nearby Crewman Dalby nearly snorted the ginger ale he was drinking, and he coughed a few times. He just laughed and playfully socked Ayala in the arm. There was more laughter as suddenly Crewman Henley was then volunteered for kissing duty by Ensign Genarro. Henley nervously came forward, softly giggling and turning a shade as red as her pajamas. She quickly pecked Chakotay on the cheek, and turned away

giggling and blushing as everyone around them clapped. Tom Paris was nearly caught in a similar predicament with Seven a short time later.

There was more laughter as they all realized that Neelix was the sneaky little culprit of this mistletoe mayhem. He had programmed the holodeck to have a sprig of mistletoe appear in the doorways each time someone stood in one for more than a few seconds. After that, everyone was very carefully on the lookout for any signs of mistletoe sprigs in doorways, fearing they too would have to kiss one of their fellow crewmembers.

Tom Paris was off by the wall of stockings looking for his. As most had already been claimed by the time he got over there, Tom didn't have to search long before he found it. When he did, he cried an excited whoop.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "I found it!"

Tom took his stocking down, staked out an empty spot on the floor, sat down, and then he dumped his stocking out in front of him. Many others, including Harry, did the same. Vorik chose a spot at one of the tables, and then carefully emptied the contents of his stocking, methodically sorting out his stash of candy by the same type and same size.

Soon it was time to announce the top three winners of the tree decorating contest. The captain and Neelix called the room to order, and everyone quieted. Smiling, Neelix then unfolded the piece of paper in his hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention," Neelix announced. "It is time to announce the winners of the second annual Voyager Christmas tree decorating contest. Come gather 'round everyone!"

Everyone was quiet, excitedly awaiting the results. This was one holiday activity that they all enjoyed most, and they always put such hard work into decorating their trees.

"The third place winner is...Lieutenant Kip Argyle and his team in the Astrophysics Department," Neelix announced excitedly.

The crew applauded as Lieutenant Argyle came forward to claim his bronze trophy and also got a handshake from the captain.

"The second place winners are Seven of Nine, Icheb, Naomi, Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi for the Astronetrics lab!" he said.

There was much applause for Seven and the children as they came forward to claim their silver trophies. They all held them up high. Running back over to her mother, Naomi excitedly showed off her shiny, engraved silver trophy. A huge smile was on her face. Samantha hugged her daughter proudly.

"And...the first place winner of the second annual Voyager Christmas tree decorating contest is..." Neelix said with excitement.

Tom Paris aided in all of the suspense by drumming his hands on a table for effect. A few people just laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Thank you, Tom!" Neelix said to him as he unfolded the piece of paper in his hand. "Lieutenant Ayala and his security team!"

The crew gave them a loud congratulatory applause as Ayala came forward to claim his gold trophy, and shook hands with the captain. Everyone then applauded again.

"Congratulations, Greg," Tom said as he clapped his good friend on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Tom," Greg smiled.

Ayala and his team were congratulated with handshakes and hugs by several others.

"Before we open our exchange gifts, we have something special planned," Neelix then announced. Baskets are being passed around. Please take a candle and a music sheet. We'll be singing a wonderful song called Silent Night by candlelight tonight."

As several baskets made their way around, each person took a candle and music sheet. As they did, they gathered closer to the big Christmas tree. Soon, everyone was all set.

"Everyone all set?" Neelix asked.

A chorus of affirmative answers responded.

"Excellent! Computer, dim overhead lights to ten percent of standard luminosity."

Soon the only lights in the room were the tree lights and the tiny flickering flames of the little white candles held by the crew.

"Ooh pretty!" Mezoti gasped as candlelight cast gentle dancing shadows on her face.

"Silent Night...Holy Night..." Neelix sang.

The crew joined in.

"All is calm...all is bright..."

At the height of the song, Azan and Rebi raised their candles high above their heads. The rest of the crew then all followed suit. Mezoti curled an arm around Seven's waist as she sang. Seven draped her arm around Mezoti's shoulder and looked down at her with a kind face as she too was singing.

Once the song was done, and all the candles extinguished and collected, the captain then told everyone to find a comfortable spot by the tree. Neelix explained to everyone how the gift exchange worked. As he'd decided to go in alphabetical order, Naomi knew it would be awhile until it was her turn, but she tried to wait as patiently as she could.

Neelix called everyone up one at a time to give their gift to its proper recipient. As each gift was given and opened, there was much ooh'ing, aah'ing and soft applause. Samantha had drawn Vorik's name, and she had no idea of what to get him, but finally she settled on a new Kal'Toh game. Several months ago Naomi had borrowed the game to try to teach herself to play. In doing so, she'd lost one of the small metallic pieces.

Chakotay had picked Naomi's name. He had replicated her a beautiful Native American necklace made from some smooth stones of different colors. Chakotay explained to her that in the sacred tradition of his people, the necklace brings good luck to its recipient.

"Thank you, Commander," Naomi said as she admired the very lovely necklace. "It's beautiful. I especially like the blue stones."

Lieutenant Nicoletti had picked Samantha's name, and presented her with a hard cover bound book by her favorite Ktarian author. Greskrendtregk had given Samantha that same book for their first year anniversary, but to her sorrow, she had left it behind on Deep Space Nine. To have this book was almost like having a part of her husband here with her. She squeezed Sue in a very thankful embrace, eyes filled with tears.

Mezoti had received a stack of game and story padds from Harry Kim while Icheb received an informational holo-book on Starfleet Academy from Tom Paris. Azan and Rebi both got a laser tag set from Greg Ayala. Once the gift exchange was done, Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Nicoletti led some of the crew in singing more carols by the piano. More of the crew were huddled around the large Christmas tree admiring

all of the ornaments. Others were gathered in the adjacent room and were watching a toy mechanical train circle round a track which surrounded a table topped with a festive centerpiece. While the children were off with Naomi, Seven took a quiet moment to gaze out of one of the frosty windows. She nibbled a cookie as she stood gazing out.

The captain joined her.

"Having fun, Seven?" she asked.

"I am, Captain," Seven replied.

Janeway could see a slight hint of what appeared to be a smile on Seven's face.

"The children all seem to be enjoying themselves too," the captain observed.

Naomi and Mezoti were playing with a Santa figurine while Azan and Rebi were off watching the train in the next room.

"Yes, they have been quite fascinated with this holiday. I must admit, Captain, that the children's enthusiasm for this holiday has greatly enhanced my own. I believe that the correct term is to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. I think that I understand."

Janeway smiled. Seven certainly had come a long way since they'd liberated her from the Borg Collective over two years ago. She squeezed Seven's elbow in a friendly grasp.

"Yes, Seven. I think you do," Janeway said.

Just then, Azan and Rebi came running up to Seven of Nine. Both boys started talking at the same time, overlapping one another.

"Seven! Seven! Seven of Nine, we like the train! Can we have a train too, Seven? Can we please have a train, Seven of Nine!" they pleaded with her almost breathlessly.

"I will replicate a toy train for you both if you wish," Seven told the two boys.

Azan and Rebi smiled at each other, and dashed back into the other room to watch the train again. They had to dodge several crewmembers in the process, including the First Officer who had to raise his drink and his plate of cookies above his head to keep them from spilling. Chakotay laughed.

"Captain, I think I was just caught in a level five plasma storm there!" he joked. "Good thing I saved the coffee and the cookies!"

Janeway laughed as she took a cookie from his plate, and she nibbled on it. Seven then excused herself to go chat with the Doctor. A few minutes later during a pause in the music, Harry made a special announcement that the Doctor was going to sing something special for them. Conversations around the room dwindled, and they gathered around. Some stood, others sat on nearby couches and chairs, and still

others sat on the floor. Naomi sat in Joe Carey's lap while Azan and Rebi planted themselves at Chakotay's feet. Mezoti sat down next to Seven on the floor, resting her head gently on the Borg woman's shoulder, and her right arm looped around Seven's. As Harry and Susan played at the Doctor's cue, he sat on a stool near the piano, and then quietly started to sing.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas..."

As he sang, several of the crew exchanged warm smiles and looks with one another. Observing this camaraderie amongst her crew, Janeway just felt a bit teary. Starfleet, Maquis, Talaxian and Borg alike...they all were a family. When the Doctor finished, everyone applauded him, and he smiled.

"Thank you," he said with a bow of his head. "Are there any special requests?"

"Jingle Bells!" Azan and Rebi requested almost in unison. The Doctor nodded.

He took a few more requests afterwards, including "Frosty the Snowman" from Naomi, as well as a rousing rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". Paris and Ayala even provided their own humorous talents as back-up dancers and singers,

contributing a plethora of dance moves and amusing pantomimed gestures.

"And now, for my final number for this evening, I would like to perform an old familiar song with a little bit of a twist."

The Doctor glanced at Harry and Susan.

"Maestros, if you please..."

As soon as the familiar tune of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" started to play, several giggled. There was even more raucous laughter when the Doctor changed the lyrics to "Janeway" instead of "Mommy". In mock exasperation, the captain just waved her arm at him as she laughed along with everyone else at the re-vamped lyrics.

"Commander," Janeway said as soon as the song had finished. "Surely there must be a Starfleet regulation or rule somewhere that expressly prohibits this mutinous behavior!"

Everyone laughed.

"Nothing that I know of right offhand, Captain," Chakotay joked, smiling.

"I'm a doctor, not a mutineer!" the Doctor said with a serious expression, but a little twinkle in his eye. More laughter followed.

The old grandfather clock on the staircase landing suddenly began to chime, signaling the lateness of the hour. It was just eleven'o clock. No one realized how late it was as they were all enjoying themselves so much.

"Well, everyone," the captain said. "We've all had a great evening, and even more fun awaits us tomorrow. I would suggest that we get ourselves ready to go to bed now."

"Aww...do we have to?" Paris whined.

Several crewmembers laughed at him.

"Mr. Paris, Santa won't come with all of our presents while we're still awake!" she said.

"Well, in that case, I'd better go to bed right now!" the sandy-haired pilot said.

Everyone then helped to move the couches, chairs, and tables aside to make sleeping room there on the floor. Sleeping bags and pillows were brought down from upstairs, and everyone chose their spot to sleep in. Just then, B'Elanna arrived there with her sleeping bag. Tom waved at her from the other side of the room as he was unrolling his sleeping bag over near the fireplace.

"B'Elanna!" he called. "Over here! We saved you a spot!" He patted at an empty spot in between his rather boyish Captain Proton sleeping bag and matching pillow, and Harry's much more subdued blue one.

She smiled, and made her way over to him. Tom enveloped her in a big bear hug. Harry gave his Maquis friend a warm smile.

"Nice sleeping bag," she told Tom.

"Thanks," Tom replied to her. "I saved up five whole replicator rations to get it!

"He even has the pajamas to match," Kim remarked as he pointed out Paris's Captain Proton pajamas, complete with an image of a jetpack on the back of the shirt.

Tom smiled proudly. B'Elanna laughed.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" she joked good-naturedly as she unrolled her sleeping bag, and fluffed up her pillow.

"Those cost me two rations," he said.

Over in another corner, Samantha was helping Naomi unroll her blue Flotter sleeping bag next to Neelix's Christmas tree themed one. Soon, Naomi was all situated. She spotted Gerron by Ensign Genarro, and waved at him, smiling. He grinned, and waved back. He knew that Naomi had quite a girlish crush on him.

In fact, practically the whole ship knew it.

Just then, Mezoti came up to the captain. She was balancing a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in her hands. She handed the full plate and the glass to the captain.

"Milk and cookies for Santa when he comes to bring us our presents," Mezoti explained.

Janeway and Chakotay exchanged a smile. The captain took the milk and cookies and set them on a small table beside the tree.

"Of course," the captain said. "Thank you, Mezoti. I'm sure that he'll be very happy."

"Captain, do you really think that Santa will know where to find us?" Mezoti asked her, sounding a tad bit worried that he wouldn't.

Janeway exchanged a smile with Chakotay, and then reached out, and put a reassuring hand on Mezoti's shoulder to comfort her.

"Not to worry. I have a feeling that Santa is on his way here right now bringing us lots of presents. He only cones while we're all asleep because that's part of his very special magic, and tomorrow when you wake up, I bet there will be lots of presents waiting for you under the tree," Janeway assured her.

As if magically right on cue, suddenly there was a hail from Tuvok on the bridge.

"Tuvok to holodeck two. Captain, I thought perhaps our young crewmembers would like to know that sensors are tracking Santa's course, and he is currently enroute to our position. I estimate he will possibly arrive here sometime within the next ten hours."

"He's coming! He's coming! He's really on his way! Santa is coming!" the children all exclaimed happily, much to the delight of the rest of the crew who all smiled.

"Thank you, Tuvok. You've made our young crewmembers quite happy here!"

Janeway was grateful to Tuvok for having such ingenuity, and not to mention his quite impeccable timing. The children were all smiles in anticipation of Santa's arrival as they settled down on their sleeping bags.

"If I could have your attention, please," the first officer then announced to everyone. "As soon as we're settled in for the evening, the captain has a special treat for all of us."

Naomi finished up the last few bites of her frosted Christmas cookie, careful not to spill any crumbs onto her Flotter pillow. When everyone was situated, Janeway sat in a rocking chair beside the tree, opened the book in her hands, and began to read.

"T'was the night before Christmas..." she read the title. Everyone smiled. Most of them knew this ancient story, and loved it.

The crew either sat or laid down on their sleeping bags as they listened to the story.

"...Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night," she ended the story, and set the book down. "Good night, everyone. Sleep well."

Everyone began snuggling deep into their warm sleeping bags for a good night's rest. Naomi cuddled her Flotter doll close to her. After bidding her crew a good night, the captain crawled into her sleeping bag which was laid out right beside Chakotay's.

"Good night, Kathryn. Sleep well," he said with a smile as he pulled his sleeping bag up over his shoulder, and then laid down.

"You too," she smiled.

All that could be heard now was the faint rustling of a few crewmembers getting themselves comfortable, and the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. Once the room was fairly quiet, Naomi and Mezoti looked at one another with a soft giggle and a grin. Both in unison they then bade Crewman Gerron a loud and giggle-filled good night.

"Good night, Gerron!" they said loudly.

There was a chorus of soft laughter from a few of the crew. Gerron just blushed.

"Good night," he said softly, grateful that it was dark enough that no one saw his blushing cheeks.

More soft laughter followed.

Very soon Naomi drifted off into a restful sleep, and dreaming of Christmas. Several hours later, both she and Mezoti awoke at almost the same time. Everyone else was still fast asleep. The only sounds that they could hear were the crackling of the fire, and the faint shores of some of the crew. It wasn't quite light outside yet, and the only light inside came from the twinkling tree lights and the fire as it flickered dancing shadows on the walls.

"Mom," Naomi whispered as she lightly tapped on her mother's head. "Mom?"

"Mmmph..." Samantha mumbled, still half asleep. She folded her pillow over her head, rolled over, and then went back to sleep.

"Mom, is it Christmas yet?" Naomi asked.

Naomi leaned over her mom, accidentally impaling her mom's ribs with an elbow. Samantha grunted in a bit of discomfort.

"No," Samantha groaned from under the pillow as she went back to sleep again.

Naomi just sat on her sleeping bag, and sighed. Having nothing else to do, Naomi began blowing puffs of air up at her bangs. Mezoti soon got up, and carefully tip-toed over several sleeping crewmembers to go to Naomi. On the way there, she accidentally stepped on Ensign Kim. He let out a small grunt. Next, she stepped on Ensign Delaney, or rather one of the Ensigns Delaney, who murmured into her pillow. Mezoti stifled a small giggle as next she almost tripped over Ensign Golwat in her effort to plop herself down on Naomi's sleeping bag. Both girls were very bored there with nothing to do aside from listening to the crew snore and the fireplace crackling.

"Is anyone else awake yet?" Naomi asked, her chin propped in her hands, legs folded.

"No," Mezoti said. "I think everyone is still asleep. What time is it, Naomi?"

"Computer, is it time to open presents yet?" Naomi asked.

"Unable to comprehend inquiry. Please restate the question," the computer replied.

Naomi sighed. She wished that it was the morning already so the crew would hurry and wake up so they could open presents. She and Mezoti passed the next several long minutes by playing a clapping game called Miss Mary Mack that her mother had taught her. They continued playing, whispering, and occasionally giggling at the amusing sounds of the crew snoring.

"Let's go see if we can find our presents under the tree!" Naomi suggested.

"Yeah!" Mezoti agreed.

They both carefully and quietly tip-toed over various crewmembers to the tree. There they saw piles and piles of gifts stacked under and around the tree. They

had never seen so many gifts before!

"Wow!" Mezoti cried out excitedly. She clapped a hand over her mouth realizing how loud she had been. From across the room, B'Elanna Torres groaned groggily.

"Hey, Mezoti! Look! The cookies and milk are gone!" Naomi said, pointing down at the empty glass and plate on the table by the tree. "Santa really was here! He did come!"

"Come look at all the presents, Naomi!" Mezoti said excitedly as she shook one. "Look! There's one with your name on it!"

The two girls began gently shaking gift after gift. Soon, Azan and Rebi awoke, and they joined Naomi and Mezoti by the tree. Soon, even Icheb was up and joined them. Several of the crew weren't actually asleep at all, and were just laying there quietly, and enjoying the children's exuberance.

"Sounds like we have some very eager little crewmembers," Chakotay observed to the captain in a slightly hushed and quiet voice.

"It sure does," Janeway said, laughing.

The five children continued to chatter on excitedly as they inspected more presents.

"Rebi, look! This one's for you!" Mezoti told her older step-brother as she handed him a gift. He shook it. Azan was nearby inspecting one of his own, as was Icheb.

"The time is now 0800," the computer announced, startling the five children.

"Wake up, everybody! Wake up! Look! It's Christmas!" Naomi and Mezoti shouted as they both jumped up and down gleefully.

"Christmas! Christmas!" Azan shouted as he pounced up and down rather excitedly on top of Harry Kim who was still half asleep. Kim groaned wearily with each pounce.

"Wake up, Seven of Nine! Can we open our presents now? We want presents, Seven!" Rebi pleaded as he vigorously shook a still sleeping Seven of Nine. She awoke.

"Rebi, you will desist shaking me. I am conscious now," she admonished him.

"Mom! Mom, it's Christmas morning!" Naomi exclaimed with glee as she then pounced on her still half asleep mother.

"A very early Christmas morning," Tom mumbled sleepily as he snuggled beside B'Elanna. Somehow during the night, he had managed to unzip himself from his sleeping bag, and zip himself into hers.

He began playfully nipping at her neck, a low growl forming in his throat. B'Elanna giggled as she pushed him away from her.

"Oh get off me, you big P'tak," she joked.

Tom rolled to the floor with a grunt.

Off in the other corner, Naomi was still in the process of trying to wake her mother. Samantha grunted in some discomfort as she suddenly felt her daughter's elbow in her kidney. She turned over, sat up, and rubbed her face. A few others were up too.

"Okay. I'm up. I'm up," Samantha said, rousing herself groggily. She yawned.

"Wake up, everybody! It's Christmas day! Santa was here!" Naomi shouted loudly.

With various little grunts, groans, and other bodily noises, the crew all began to slowly wake from their slumber. Soon, all of their sleeping bags were rolled up, and stowed away along with their pillows. The blend of heavenly aromas coming from the dining room told them that breakfast was near.

Neelix had risen earlier than everyone, and he prepared a variety of different breakfast dishes. The children were gathered around the tree again, shaking and inspecting all of the gifts they could find with their names on them, and trying to guess what they were.

"Hey, Azan...look! This one's for you!" Naomi said excitedly as she handed him a brightly wrapped small gift. He shook it.

"I wonder what this one is," Mezoti said as she picked up, and shook a small box.

Icheb spotted a rather large gift propped up behind the tree. The tag had his name on it, and he was scrutinizing the package closely.

"Naomi," Samantha called to her daughter. "Come and have some breakfast first. We'll open presents up later after we've all eaten."

"Okay," Naomi said, a bit disappointed.

Naomi, still clad in her pajamas, as was the rest of the crew, came to stand next to her mother. The Borg children were similarly summoned by Seven of Nine, and they too then joined her in the breakfast buffet line.

"Slumber parties are fun," Mezoti said as she stood next to Seven. Seven handed her a plate, and Mezoti began dishing herself some scrambled eggs and a little bacon.

"Yeah!" Naomi responded. "We've never had one on the holodeck with the whole crew before, not even on Christmas too!"

"I like Christmas," Mezoti told Seven.

"I do too!" Rebi said.

"Me too!" Azan added.

"I am pleased that you are all having fun," Seven told them, regarding them kindly.

"What about you, Icheb?" Chakotay asked, pouring himself a glass of orange juice at the drink table. "Are you having fun too?"

"Yes, the most fun I've ever had." he said as he loaded his plate with eggs and a muffin.

"The best fun is yet to come! Just you wait and see!" Neelix exclaimed as he replaced an empty serving bowl with a new one piled full of sausage links. Icheb helped himself to two sausage links, and then he poured a big glass of orange juice for himself.

The big, long buffet table was piled full of nearly every breakfast food imaginable. There was sausage, crispy bacon, ham, eggs prepared several different ways, a variety of omellettes, hash browns, plain pancakes, banana pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and even chocolate chip pancakes! A basket of hot muffins sat next to a platter of freshly cut fruits. Naomi loaded her plate up with two chocolate chip pancakes, two slices of bacon and sausage, and some scrambled eggs. Samantha decided on some breakfast casserole and coffee. Pouring herself a glass of milk, Naomi carefully balanced her plate as she followed her mother into the dining room. They sat down over next to Joe.

"Merry Christmas, Naomi!" he said.

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Joe!" she said.

Naomi was so eager to open gifts that she began wolfing down her plate of food just as fast as she could, barely chewing a bite.

"Woah. Slow down there, kiddo," her mom said. "The presents aren't going anywhere."

Reluctantly Naomi slowed down her hasty digestive efforts, although only just a bit. At another table, B'Elanna was slicing into her banana pancakes while watching Tom in amusement as he was devouring his bowl of Captain Crunch peanut butter cereal as fast as he could without choking. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at him, smiling.

Picking up his cereal bowl, Tom began to slurp up the milk left in the bottom. A bit of milk was even dribbling down his chin.

"Oh Tom, that's real adorable," B'Elanna joked as she just sat and laughed at him.

Tom set the bowl down on the table, and wiped his mouth with his long pajama sleeve. He then followed that up with a big, hearty belch. The children laughed at him.

"Thomas Eugene Paris, excuse yourself!" B'Elanna playfully scolded him for his table manners, or apparent lack thereof.

"Excuse me!" Tom said with a grin as he got up to go dispose of his cereal bowl.

After a little while, all the breakfast dishes were cleared away, and it was finally time to open gifts. The children didn't need to be invited twice, and they were the first ones to be seated by the tree. As everyone else started making their way back into the main room, some grabbed a few cookies or other sweets to nibble on while they waited.

"Everyone pick a comfortable spot. We'll be opening gifts in a few moments," the captain announced as she stood by the tree.

As soon as everyone was settled into a spot on the floor or on the couch, or in a chair, the captain indicated that they were ready.

"In the spirit of Christmas tradition, I think the children should open the first gifts," she said, inviting Naomi, Icheb, and the three younger children to choose a gift first.

"Hey, does that include me?" Paris asked.

"Oh you..." B'Elanna playfully smacked Tom in the arm as everyone laughed.

"You'll wait your turn, young man," the captain joked. Paris gave an exaggerated pout as everyone laughed at him again.

"Icheb, children..." the captain invited.

Icheb, Naomi, and the other children didn't have to be asked twice, and within just a few moments, all of them aside from Icheb had chosen the first gift they were going to open. Icheb didn't know which to choose.

"Why don't you start with that one first, Icheb," the captain suggested, pointing to a large square box nestled near the front. He retrieved the box, and sat down beside the other children in front of the Christmas tree.

"May we open them now, Captain?" Naomi asked, quite anxious to tear into her gift.

"Go ahead," the captain said smiling.

No sooner had Janeway spoken, and paper was flung every which way as the younger children eagerly tore into their gifts with unabated enthusiasm. Icheb was however, taking great care to open his package very carefully. Several of the crew smiled as they watched the children open their gifts. Rebi andAzan were the first to unwrap their gift. They had received a large bucket of Lego blocks from Tom and

B'Elanna.

"Leg...os," Azan read the label slowly.

Neither he or his brother had ever heard of Legos, and weren't quite too sure what they were. They both looked up at Seven for an explanation, but she had none to offer them as she didn't know what Legos were either.

"You can build all sorts of things with these little blocks," Paris said as he demonstrated. The boys both smiled and thanked him.

Mezoti was next to open her gift. She read the tag out loud. "To Mezoti, from Seven." She looked at Seven. "May I open it now?"

"Yes," Seven said.

Mezoti tore away the paper to reveal a very beautiful, sparkling purple butterfly hair clip. The captain marveled at it briefly, and then she helped Mezoti put it in her hair.

Mezoti thanked Seven with a hug which Seven returned, to everyone's surprise and delight. Next, it was Naomi's turn to open her gift from Harry Kim. She squealed in utter delight as she held up a series of five hardbound books. It was the complete series of The Adventures of Flotter and Treevis. She absolutely loved her Flotter stories!

"Oh! Thank you, Uncle Harry!" Naomi exclaimed as she threw her arms around

his neck in a hug. He hugged her in turn.

"You're very welcome," he smiled.

"Your turn, Icheb," Chakotay said.

Icheb tore the shiny green wrapping paper from the box in his lap. Both Janeway and Chakotay exchanged a knowing smile as they watched. Inside the box, Icheb was a bit startled to find a neatly folded Starfleet cadet's uniform. His mouth dropped open. He looked up at Captain Janeway, surprised.

"I think that a Starfleet cadet needs to have a proper uniform," she said with a little grin. "And the insignia to go along with it."

Icheb then realized that the metallic pin in his stocking went with this uniform. He smiled again. Seven watched him proudly.

"Thank you, Captain. May I wear it now?"

"Of course," she said.

Without wasting any time, Icheb ran up the stairs to change into his brand new uniform.

"Tom, while Icheb is changing would you like to open one of your gifts?" Janeway asked. She could see that he was eagerly eyeing up a package with his name on it.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" he said as he practically dove headfirst into the pile of gifts to retrieve the one he was looking for. Tom tore at the wrapping paper with just as much enthusiasm as the children had, and he let out a cry of delight at what he saw.

"Wow!" he gasped as he held up a model car kit of a shiny red Camaro. "A Camaro!"

Just a moment later, Icheb came down the stairs looking handsome in his uniform.

"Attention to orders!" Chakotay ordered.

Everyone stood at attention.

"Icheb, for exemplary service aboard the starship Voyager, it is my honor and my privilege to grant you a field commission of Cadet Third Class. Congratulations!"

Janeway was just about to pin his rank insignia on his collar when she stopped.

"Seven, would you care to do the honors?" she asked, handing Seven the metal pip.

Seven gladly and proudly obliged, and the crew applauded. Icheb even blushed a bit. They got back to opening gifts, and there were many "thank-you's" and hugs traded all over the room. Azan and Rebi had each gotten model ships of the Voyager and the Delta Flyer from Chakotay. Both boys were flying their ships all around the big room, dodging various crewmembers as they flew. Soon, they were debating a plan of attack against a hapless ceramic Santa figurine.

"Icheb, I think that big one in the back is for you," Chakotay said, pointing at a large gift Icheb had been looking at a little earlier. He had quite a time maneuvering the big box from behind the tree, but he finally did. The captain told him to open it. What he found inside startled and surprised him. It was a high-powered laser guided telescope. Also included were about a dozen holoprograms that depicted a vast array of star formations from a plethora of Alpha Quadrant worlds. Icheb had always had a fascination with stellar cartography. He smiled a big smile.

"My father used to take me stargazing when I was a boy. I'd be happy to do the same for you," the Commander said with a smile.

"Thank you, Comnander," Icheb said.

The crew opened up the last few remaining gifts as the captain smiled happily to see the joy on the faces of her crew. Finally, there were no more gifts left underneath the tree.

"Well, I guess that was everything," the captain said, looking at the empty space under and around the very large tree.

"Not exactly, Captain," Chakotay said. "There's one last gift left to open."

Chakotay nodded to Neelix who retrieved a small box from a hidden cupboard, and then handed it to Chakotay who in turn gave it to the captain. She took the box from him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Just a little something from all of us to our captain," he told her with a little smile.

Curiously she took it from him, and began to open it. The room was silent as they all watched. Tearing the gold paper away, she saw a beautiful box. Lifting the lid off, her mouth just dropped open. It was a beautiful dark leather bound album filled with many holo-pictures of the crew, each with a brief recording. Janeway's eyes welled with tears.

"Thank you, everyone," she said.

An easy silence settled over the big room as they all took some time to marvel at all of their gifts. Some took a moment to look at the ornaments on the tree while others just milled about chatting quietly. Naomi's loud cry suddenly captured everyone's attention.

"Mom, come quick and look outside!" she exclaimed, calling her mother over to her.

Setting all her gifts aside, Samantha came over to see what had her daughter so excited. Peering out of the slightly fogged window, Samantha smiled at what she saw. Several other crewmembers came over to look too. Everyone gasped and looked on in awe. Icheb and the Borg children were amazed. They'd never seen anything

like it before.

"What's all that white stuff on the ground, Mom?" Naomi asked her mom excitedly.

"That's called snow," her mother said.

Azan and Rebi both looked at Seven.

"Seven of Nine, explain snow," Rebi said.

"Tell us please, Seven of Nine," Azan said.

"Wow! Look!" Naomi called from another window. "There's even more over here!"

The younger Borg children all came to flock around Naomi at another window to gaze outside at the wintery wonderland, leaving Seven hanging in mid-sentence as she tried to explain the concept of snow to them. A light snow was falling, adding to the two feet of accumulation that had fallen during the night while they all had been sleeping.

"It must've snowed all night," Torres said.

"Can we go outside to play in the snow, Captain?" Mezoti asked. "Please can we?"

"Of course you can," Janeway said to her. "And that goes for all of us!"

Tom Paris let out an excited whoop. He flung open the door, and he had one foot out when Janeway suddenly stopped him.

"Tom," the captain called. "Don't you think that you should get dressed first?"

Paris looked down, and realized that he was still dressed in his pajamas. He just blushed as several crewmembers all laughed at him.

"You'll all find some winter clothes in the upstairs closets. There's plenty for everyone to wear," Neelix told them.

"Last one upstairs is a rotten egg!" Paris announced loudly as he made a mad dash across the room, and led the charge up the stairs. Kim and Ayala were hot on his heels.

Soon the crew was all bundled up warmly, and ready to go outside to play. It was cold, but not frigid. A few found some sleds and skis in a shed, and trudged off to a nearby hill to try them out. A couple of crewmen began rolling snowballs in preparation for a good old-fashioned snowball fight. Naomi and the Borg children were so excited that they hardly even knew what to do first.

"Naomi," Joe asked. "Would you like to come and help me build a snowman?"

"Sure!" Naomi agreed.

"Seven, will you build a snowman with me too?" Mezoti asked her. Seven nodded.

While Naomi and Joe began rolling up a huge ball of snow for the base of their snowman, Seven and Mezoti were doing the same nearby. Over a little ways away, B'Elanna was making one wall of a snow fort with a couple other crewmen when

she suddenly heard Harry Kim yelling.

"Heads up, B'Elanna!"

B'Elanna looked up at him just in time to see a snowball splat perfectly centered on her forehead. Kim burst into laughter as he pointed at her. She dusted her hair off.

"Oh you..." she growled at him playfully. "Starfleet, this means war!"

B'Elanna rolled up a huge snowball, and lobbed it towards Harry. He ducked just barely in time, and the snowball barreled into Chakotay. B'Elanna covered up her mouth and giggled at the tall First Officer.

"Oops! Sorry, Chakotay!" she laughed.

"Ooh! You're in trouble now, Maquis!" Kim very playfully scolded her as he ran off. He didn't get far however before he was pelted with a snowball by his best buddy Tom.

"Lieutenant," Chakotay said as he picked up a snowball, raising it and smiling. "Run."

They both laughed loudly as he took off after her. They ducked and weaved their way through people, and trees, up hills, down hills, and all over the big yard until Chakotay finally nailed her. Soon an all-out snowball war was on as even more crewmembers decided to take part. Many began rolling up even more ammunition

to throw at any unfortunate victims they happened to catch in a vulnerable spot.

Standing beside Janeway, Seven was a bit perplexed as to the purpose of this activity.

"Captain, I do not understand the purpose of this particular holiday tradition," she said.

"Duck, Seven!" Janeway yelled.

"Captain, I believe you are mistaken. There are no water fowl present here," Seven said.

It was too late. A snowball smashed Seven right in the back. The snowball's previous owner quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

"A curious sensation," Seven observed as she felt wet, cold snow slowly slide down her back. She raised an eyebrow at all of the chaos and mayhem around her.

Nearby, Azan rolled up a snowball in his hands, and mimmicking the actions of the others, he launched the snowball towards the only target he could think of, Seven.

His brother Rebi quickly followed suit. Seven sighed, bent down, and began to roll up a snowball. Suddenly, she felt a cold impact on her rear end. Someone had just rather inadvertently tossed a snowball at her posterior! Seven stood up, snowball in hand, searching for anyone who looked like the guilty party. She then spotted Jenny Delaney running off towards a nearby tree.

"Sorry, Seven!" Jenny yelled as she ran behind the tree just barely in time to avoid a snowball thrown at her by her twin sister.

Vorik meanwhile was quietly stalking a very unaware Crewman Immanuel with a snowball of his own. While a snowball fight was taking place at one end of the

yard, at the other end, another group was very hard at work constructing a snow

fort. Others were building a rather large snowman. It was nearly six feet tall now.

Crewman Lang found two small pine cones to serve as eyes, while Lieutenant Castro found two branches for the arms. Ensign Delgado came out of a shed a minute later with a wooden bucket. He brought it over.

"Hey, look!" he said. "This can be his hat!"

They set the bucket up on top of the tall snowman, and stood back to look at it. Their snowman finished, several of them went off to take part in the snowball fight, while some of them started making snow angels in a nearby snowbank. Naomi and the children found a small hill, and they decided that it might be fun to roll down it. They did so several times until they were dizzy and giggling. Several

crewmembers laughed as the children all rolled down at once, and ended up in a heap at the bottom where they all just laughed and laughed.

Grabbing an unused sled, Mezoti brought it over to Seven who was making a snowman with Harry Kim and Susan Nicoletti.

"Seven, will you sled with me?" she asked.

Seven nodded, and taking the girl's hand, she walked up to the top of a small hill. Seated on the sled behind Mezoti, Seven expertly guided the sled down the hill, and brought it to a stop near some pine trees. The young Norcadian girl just squealed in sheer delight. Even Seven was smiling and laughing as they whooshed down the hill again, coming to a stop with a little jolt.

"Again, Seven, again!" Mezoti laughed.

Clutching the sled's rope in one hand, and Mezoti's hand in the other, Seven trudged up the hill. Three more times they came down the hill, laughing all the way down.

Tom Paris then called down from the top of the highest hill. His loud voice echoed. His crewmates looked up to see him holding a sled high above his head, and just laughed.

"I, Captain Proton, Defender of the universe and Conqueror of all Intergalactic Evil will now attempt the impossible, daring feat!"

Several of them laughed at him.

"Look out below!" Tom yelled as he took a running head start, and then went flying fast down the hill, gripping his sled tightly.

Unfortunately about halfway down the hill, he suddenly lost control of the sled, and he went barreling into the bottom of the huge snowman. About half a dozen people all scattered as he closed in, and then crashed.

"There goes Fred!" Kim shrugged as he watched what little there was left of their snowman roll down an embankment.

"Poor Fred," Dalby frowned. "And I was just starting to get attached to the big guy."

The snowman's head rolled down a hill, and smashed against a tree.

B'Elanna looked a bit sadly at what formerly was Fred's head.

"Oh, his head fell off," she said.

The Doctor meanwhile was conducting an examination of the snowman's crumbling remains. He then turned to face the captain.

"Captain, as Chief Medical Officer I regret to inform you...Fred is undeniably dead."

They all laughed. Ayala and Carey helped a slightly dizzy Tom Paris up onto his feet.

"Wow...did I win?" he asked.

"Yeah, you won, Tom," Ayala said. "And I think poor old Fred over there lost!"

"Yeah, he lost alright," Torres said. "He lost his poor head down this hill!"

"You were funny, Uncle Tom!" Naomi laughed as Tom shook more snow off of himself, and brushed some from his hair.

"Well, everyone...how about we head back inside, and get ourselves all warmed up?" Neelix asked. No one objected, and they all began trudging back up to the house.

Coats, hats, gloves, and scarves were peeled off, and deposited in a neat pile out of the way. Chakotay threw a couple more logs in the fireplace, and stoked the fire until it was blazing hot again. Everyone gathered by the fireplace hearth to warm themselves, rubbing hands together, and some huddling under blankets.

"That was fun!" Sue Nicoletti said.

There were several murmurs of agreement from everyone else as they sat by the warm fire. B'Elanna looked around for Tom, but she couldn't see him anywhere in the room.

"Where did Tom go?" she asked.

No sooner had she spoken, they heard him.

"Hey, everybody!" he called out from the dining room. "Look what I just found!"

Paris came out of the dining room with a big tray heaping full of graham crackers, mounds of chocolate bars, and a mountain of marshmallows. He teetered the big tray very carefully as he slowly walked over.

"We can all make some S'Mores treats!" he said, smiling.

"Mom," Naomi asked. "What's a S'More?"

Several other crewmembers who had never heard of S'Mores treats were curious also.

"Watch Tom, honey," Samantha told her very inquisitive daughter. "He'll show you."

"I used to love these things when I was a kid. See, you take a marshmallow, put it on this stick here, and roast it in the fire until it gets all gooey," Tom said as he showed her.

Naomi was fascinated.

"Then when it gets all soft and smooshy, you smash it in between two crackers, and chocolates. Here you go. Try it. It's good."

Tom handed the S'More to Naomi. White gooey marshmallow was spilling out of the sides. Naomi took a little bite, and it tasted good. She finished in in about three bites.

"Yummy!" she said, cheeks bulging, and a chin full of crumbs and melted chocolate and marshmallow. "I want some more!"

Her mother laughed at her lovingly.

"Seven, can we have one too?" Azan asked.

"Everyone can have one," Tom said as he was roasting another marshmallow. Harry and Chakotay joined in, and soon the three were dispensing the treats out to everyone.

"This is more fun than writing reports on geothermal instability!" Icheb said as he devoured his treat with obvious gusto.

Seven regarded him with a raised eyebrow, but smiled as she too consumed her treat.

"It's more fun than a warp core diagnostic!" Ensign Mulcahey said as he crunched his.

"Or scrubbing the warp plasma manifolds!" Crewman Lang said with a grin at Torres.

"Hear! Hear!" Crewman Heddard said.

"Careful, you two," Torres joked. "I'll put you on gelpack maintenance for a month!"

Everyone laughed.

"I wish that it could be Christmas every single day!" Naomi said wistfully.

"Me too!" Mezoti said.

"Christmas will be here again before you know it!" Neelix said cheerfully.

Everyone sat enjoying their treats and the warm fire for a few more minutes.

"Well, everyone...I admit I hate to say it, but I think that we should call this a day," the captain said. "After all...duty calls."

There was a collective sigh and an audible groan from the room. Neelix knew he had to act fast, and Voyager's morale officer leapt up into action without missing a beat.

"We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas!..." Neelix began to sing. As he sang, Neelix walked amongst them, clapping shoulders and giving them his warm smile. A few joined him in song, and soon a few more began to sing until they were a strong chorus of voices. They ended the song in applause. Warm hugs and handshakes were exchanged all around, and finally the crew began to gather up all their sleeping bags, stockings, and gifts. Each was bid a fond farewell by Neelix who was standing there at the door to see them off. Finally, only Neelix, Janeway and Chakotay remained. Neelix smiled at them both.

"This was a very lovely party, Neelix," she said, giving him a warm and sincere hug.

"I think everyone had a really good time," Chakotay agreed with a smile for their host.

"I'm glad the crew enjoyed it," Neelix said to them both. "And Captain, Commander..."

They turned back to him.

"See you both at lunch!" he said.

"You can count on it!" Chakotay said as he and the captain left, leaving Neelix alone.

"Computer," Neelix said, taking one last look around the big empty great room.

"End program, and save for next year."


End file.
